Job Cuts Keep Coming—Is Your Firm On the List?

More companies announced layoffs this week as the employment picture continued to dim.

JPMorgan Chase and Chesapeake Energy were among the latest names on Thursday to announce job cuts.

CNBC.com

The number of U.S. workers continuing to claim jobless benefits notched a fresh record in the second week of February, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, while new claims for aid were the highest since 1982.

The number of people remaining on the benefits roll after drawing an initial week of assistance increased by 114,000 to a 5.112 million in the week ended Feb. 14, the most recent week for which data is available. The so-called continued claims topped every estimate in a Reuters poll of 15 economists, which had a consensus forecast of 5.00 million.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits increased to a seasonally adjusted 667,000 in the week ended Feb. 21 from a revised  631,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said. It was the highest reading since October 1982, when claims reached 695,000.

The year-long U.S. recession has savaged the labor market and sent the unemployment rate soaring, with some economists fearing it will pierce 9 percent in 2009 from 7.6 percent in January and mount further next year.

This was also the highest reading since October 1982, when the four-week average was 641,750.

Here is a rundown of corporate job cuts announced so far this month:

• Chesapeake Energy said that it will move or eliminate about 215 positions from its Charleston office in an attempt to cut costs amid tightening credit markets and falling energy prices.
• JPMorgan Chase said it is cutting up to 14,000 jobs, more than previously disclosed, as it tries to reduce costs in the face of a slumping economy and higher credit losses. The second-largest U.S. bank said it now expects to shed as many 12,000 jobs from integrating the former Washington Mutual, up from 9,200 announced in December. It also expects to cut up to 2,000 investment banking jobs.

• Home Depot , which is cutting 7,000 jobs as it shutters its Expo Design Center chain and trims corporate costs, also said it would open fewer new stores this year.
• Finnish Nokia is offering a severance package to the first 1,000 employees worldwide who volunteer to leave the world's biggest cellphone maker, to help avoid compulsory lay-offs.
• Just two months after saying more local job cuts weren't expected, computer chip maker Micron Technology announced it will slash as many as 2,000 workers by the end of August and phase out certain manufacturing operations at its Boise, Idaho facility, amid the weak economy and lower demand for its DRAM memory chips.
• Boeing issued its second batch of 2009 layoff notices Friday, and for the first time the cuts hit the assembly mechanics and electrical-systeminstallers who actually build the airplanes.
• Identification products maker Brady posted a surprise quarterly loss, hit by restructuring charges and a fall in revenue, and lowered its 2009 earnings outlook, citing a strong dollar and inventory cuts by clients. The company, which cut about 20 percent of its jobs and reduced expenses in the recent past, said it was ready to take "additional action if needed."
• Click for companies that announced layoffs in January...

—Sources: AP, Reuters, with CNBC.com staff.

CONTINUED : The Layoffs Continue...

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