WASHINGTON (AP) - Worn down by a drawn-out recession, cost-cutting employers are laying off workers at an alarming clip and there's no end in sight. The Labor Department releases a report Friday expected to show that January was another cruel month for workers and companies.

With employers in no mood to hire, the unemployment rate is expected to jump to 7.5 percent in January from 7.2 percent in December, according to economists' forecasts. If they are right, that would mark the highest jobless rate in 17 years.

And after suffering heavy job losses last year, the country probably lost another 524,000 jobs month, getting the new year off to a rotten start. Some think the number of jobs reductions in January will be higher - 600,000 or 700,000.

Employers are slashing payrolls and turning to other ways to cut costs - including trimming workers' hours, freezing wages or cutting pay - to cope with shrinking appetites from customers in the United States and in other countries, which are struggling with their own economic troubles.

"It is as rocky as I've ever seen it. Businesses have seen such revenue shortfalls that they are really up against the wall and have no choice but to cut workers," said Mark Vitner, an economist at Wachovia Corp. (WB)

An avalanche of layoffs is slamming the nation from a wide swath of employers.

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Estee Lauder Cos. (EL), Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC), and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) are among the companies slicing payrolls. Manufacturers - especially car makers - construction companies and retailers have been particularly hard hit by the recession. Talbots Inc. (TLB), Liz Claiborne Inc. (LIZ), Macy's Inc. (M) and Home Depot Inc. are all cutting jobs. So are Detroit's General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. More here.