Firms trim more jobs in Europe; recession fears rise

DALLAS, Texas - Global companies from NEC Corp to PepsiCo Inc and AstraZeneca PLC are chopping jobs more than three times faster than in 2011 as they brace for recession in Europe.

Announced workforce reductions surged to 94,369 through Friday from 26,561 a year earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Employers based in Western Europe accounted for the biggest group of job-cut disclosures, threatening to add to unemployment in the eurozone already running at a 13-year high.

Such firings are now running at the quickest pace to start a year since a 2009 peak, when the European and US economies shrank amid the deepest slump since World War II.