Dow Chemical to slash 5,000 jobs

Chemical firms are cutting jobs amid economic downturn

US chemical firm Dow Chemical will cut 5,000 jobs and close 20 plants in an attempt to cut costs because of the global economic downturn.

Dow, one of the world's biggest chemical makers, hopes to make annual savings of $700m (£473m) by 2010.

"We must adjust ourselves to the severity of this downturn," said Dow Chemical's chief executive Andrew Liveris in a statement.

The announced job cut represents 11% of the company's worldwide workforce.

Rising unemployment

Michigan-based Dow Chemical also said it was moving towards operating three business models with "a lean and efficient" corporate centre.

Last week its rival DuPont said it would cut 2,500 jobs and warned it did not expect to make profits in the fourth quarter of this year due to the slowdown in the car and coistruction industries.

Dow Chemical's announcement came after the US Labor Department said on Friday that US employers had axed 533,000 jobs in November, the biggest monthly cut since 1974.

In a dramatic indication of the worsening economic situation, the US jobless rate rose to a 15-year high of 6.7% from 6.5% in October.

The National Bureau of Economic Research said this week that the US entered a recession in December 2007.