Boeing cuts 4,500 jobs

By Bill Rigby

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing (BA.N) became the latest U.S. industrial giant to cut jobs on Friday, shedding 4,500 workers from its commercial plane operations, or about 7 percent of the unit total, as it looks to trim costs in the face of a global recession.

The world's No. 2 plane maker joins Alcoa (AA.N), Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), Chrysler LLC, 3M Co (MMM.N) and others in shedding jobs to counter a drop in demand.

The U.S. economy lost more than 500,000 non-farm jobs in December alone, according to the government's latest figures, and unemployment is now at a nearly 16-year high.

Boeing, which lost the race for orders against EADS (EAD.PA) unit Airbus last year, said normal attrition and a reduction in contract labour would account for some of the job losses, but layoffs would also be necessary.

Most of the jobs are overhead functions and not directly associated with plane manufacturing, Boeing said. The jobs will chiefly be cut from Boeing's massive Seattle-area plants, between April and June.

"This is another painful reminder that the recession is hitting home for Washington state families," said Washington Democrat Sen. Patty Murray, in a statement. "Boeing is part of the lifeblood of our region and when Boeing hurts, Washington state hurts."

The commercial plane unit will employ about 63,500 workers after the reductions, it said, about the same level as at the beginning of 2008. It employed 67,659 people at the end of last year.

Boeing, which also is the U.S. No. 2 defence contractor, had just over 162,000 employees overall at the end of last year.