Altria Group has confirmed that it has begun cutting jobs because of the widespread economic turmoil, the Associated Press reports.

Spokesman David Sylvia confirmed the company is cutting jobs and said it is in the midst of deciding how many layoffs there will be between now and February. He said cuts were planned for employees of Altria, the parent company, and its cigarette unit, Philip Morris USA.
Altria had announced in August 2007 that it would cut as many as 400 positions when it moved its headquarters from New York and spun off Philip Morris International in March of this year. The cuts were designed to save USD 250 million (EUR 197 million) annually. An undisclosed number of those employees relocated to the Richmond office. The latest cuts — first reported in the Richmond Times-Dispatch — are in addition to the earlier layoffs.
The company has also announced that in light of the difficulties in the credit markets, its USD 10.4 billion purchase of UST has become more expensive to finance. The company plans to schedule a shareholder vote in December and hopes to close the deal by the first week of January. (pi)