New round of layoffs totals 20,000

A round of more than 15,000 layoffs announced Thursday by AT&T Inc., DuPont and Viacom Inc. suggests a yearlong wave of job cuts is accelerating, just as the government is expected to report a higher unemployment rate for November on Friday.

Swiss bank Credit Suisse Group also announced 5,300 job cuts, although it's unclear how many will be in the United States.

The latest layoffs coincided with a government report showing the proportion of workers continuing to receive jobless benefits has matched a level last reached in September 1992. The deepening recession is pressuring companies to slash costs, and payroll is typically the quickest and most efficient way to do it.

Thursday's announced job cuts spanned an array of economic sectors, hitting telecom workers, bankers, salespeople and chemical manufacturers. The breadth of the layoffs suggests the pain of the recession will be felt broadly and well into 2009.

Dallas-based AT&T plans to cut 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force. The nation's biggest telecommunications company said the job cuts will begin this month and continue throughout 2009. Company spokeswoman Brooke Burgess said AT&T has about 300 employees in Utah, but the company does not yet have a specific breakdown of how many jobs will be cut in various geographical areas and business units.

Chemical company Dupont, based in Wilmington, Del., will cut 2,500 jobs and cut back hours for remaining workers. It also plans to eliminate 4,000 contractors this month, with more contractor cuts in 2009.

New York-based media conglomerate Viacom will cut about 850 jobs, or 7 percent of its work force.

Credit Suisse's 5,300 planned job cuts worldwide represents about 11 percent of its work force.

The layoffs announced Thursday follow others earlier this week. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it plans to cut 9,200 positions at Washington Mutual, which it acquired. Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., laid off about 350 employees across the country Wednesday, the same day software maker Adobe Systems Inc. said it will cut 600 jobs, or about 8 percent of its work force.

"What we have seen is not just that the cuts are deep; it's that they are happening everywhere," said Andrew Gledhill, an economist with Moody's Economy.com. "It just tells you that there are very few people in any industry who can say, 'I feel safe."'

Growing job insecurity dampens the economy in ways that go beyond those laid off, Gledhill noted. Anxious families, even those with jobs, rein in their spending. Because consumer spending accounts for roughly 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, a pullback in spending typically leads companies to cut even more workers to trim costs.

Nervous consumers already have cut back on spending, making November the weakest shopping month since at least 1969, according to retail figures released Thursday by the International Council of Shopping Centers. This week's layoffs could accelerate the pullback.

Shedding workers this month will allow companies to write off big costs associated with the layoffs during a financial quarter that will likely be one of the worst in years. AT&T plans to take a charge of about $600 million in the fourth quarter to pay for severance costs. Viacom plans to take a restructuring charge of $400 million to $450 million before taxes in the fourth quarter.