Wednesday's reports were the latest signs that the slide in the US job market is nowhere near bottom and suggested Friday's government payrolls report could exceed current expectations for 320,000 job losses in November.
A look at the job cuts announced by companies in US and around the world on Wednesday.
UAL plans 1,100 job cuts
United Airlines plans to furlough 1,088 workers at bases around America, according to layoff notices and the unions that represent the workers.
The third-largest US airline also plans to close maintenance facilities at the Newark, New York-LaGuardia and Philadelphia airports on Jan 11.
United has been working for several months toward reducing its headcount by 7,000 positions as it trims the amount of flying it does. It's been using a combination of leaves, buyouts, and furloughs to eliminate those jobs. The latest furlough plans are part of that 7,000 total, which also includes plans to lay off roughly 1,500 office and management workers.
Brazil's Vale cuts 2.1% of work force
Vale, the world's largest iron ore producer, has cut 2.1 per cent of its work force because of slumping global demand for the raw ingredient used to make steel, the company confirmed on Wednesday.
Companhia Vale Rio Doce SA said the cuts amount to 1,300 jobs from its global work force of about 62,000. An additional 5,500 workers are being idled with pay to slow production, and 1,200 are being retrained for new assignments.
Jefferies cutting jobs, closing offices
Middle market investment bank Jefferies Group will slash nearly 15 per cent of its employees worldwide and close offices in Dubai, Singapore and Tokyo as it contends with heavy losses for 2008.
The bank also said on Wednesday it expects a fourth-quarter operating loss in line with the one it posted in the first quarter.
Nomura Holdings to cut 1,000 jobs in London
Nomura Holdings, Japan's biggest brokerage, plans to cut as many as 1,000 jobs in London, the second staff reduction after acquiring parts of failed Lehman Brothers Holdings, Bloomberg news reported.
Nomura will eliminate jobs in front and back offices, including positions held by former Lehman staff and its own bankers, Tokyo-based spokesman Tohru Namikawa said by phone today.
The move adds to previous staff reductions in Tokyo, where the company is based. Nomura agreed to take over Lehman's operations outside the Americas after the Wall Street firm went bankrupt in September, and pledged to guarantee bonuses in an attempt to keep 8,000 former Lehman workers from joining rivals.
Belden plans to cut 1,800 jobs
Belden, the second-largest electronic-cable maker in North America, said it plans to eliminate about 1,800 jobs, or 20 per cent of its workforce, citing 'challenging' economic conditions, Bloomberg news reported.
Belden, based in St Louis, anticipates one-time charges resulting from the job cuts in the range of US$55 million to US$65 million before taxes, or 85 cents to US$1 a share, the company said in a statement distributed today by PR Newswire.
Boston's State street to Cut 1,700 Jobs
State Street Corp, the world's largest money manager for institutions, plans to cut 1,700 jobs by March to offset the impact of the bear market on profits, Bloomberg news reported.
State Street will shed about 6 per cent of its 28,700 employees, about two-thirds of that coming in North America, the Boston-based company said today in a statement. The reductions will mostly come in middle and senior management ranks.
Fund managers and custody banks have suffered as US$31 trillion in value has been erased from world equity markets in 2008, a loss of 51 per cent. Bank of New York Mellon Corp, the world's largest custodian of investment assets, said on Nov 20 it will eliminate 1,800 jobs, or 4 per cent of staff.
Goldman Sachs now sees loss of 400,000 jobs in Nov
Goldman Sachs has revised up its forecast for US job losses in November to 400,000 after reports showing a dismal employment picture in the private sector, particularly in services. The analysts at Goldman had previously forecast a decline of 350,000 jobs. The median estimate in a Reuters poll conducted on Friday was - 320,000.
Chicago Tribune to lay off more
The Chicago Tribune notified its employees on Wednesday that several members of its newsroom staff will leave the paper by the end of the week.
Editor Gerould Kern's memo to employees, did not specify the number of layoffs or who was leaving.
The newspaper cut 80 jobs less than four months ago, representing 14 per cent of the newsroom staff. The Tribune had 480 newsroom employees after the cuts.
Chicago-based Tribune, which also owns The Los Angeles Times and other newspapers across the country, announced last month it was consolidating newsgathering operations in Washington.
AP, REUTERS