Home Depot To Layoff 7,000

It looks like the economy isn't going to get any better in the short term. Now the home improvement giant, Home Depot, has announced that it will cut 7,000 jobs, or about 2 percent of its workforce, as it shuts its Expo home design centers business and cuts down on corporate support staff.
But that's not all they are doing to protect themselves from slumping sales. Home Depo will freeze the salaries of all officers until further notice.
The company said it expects pretax charges of about $532 million from its actions.
The company said it still expects sales to decline 8 percent and earnings per share to fall 24 percent from continuing operations for its fiscal year, excluding one-time charges.
For its coming fiscal year, Home Depot said it will cut capital spending to about $1 billion and will open 12 stores.
Home Depot's (HD) Stock Price rose on the news, up $1.27 (5.85%) to 22.99. Home Depot's 52 week high was $31.08 (January 31, 2008) and it's 52 week low was $17.05 (October 10, 2008)