The company announced job losses before the House voted to approve a $819-billion stimulus package. Already this week, major companies across the economic spectrum have announced tens of thousands of job cuts, buyouts and other retrenching to cope with the current recession.

In a prepared statement, the company said its profit dropped 69% in its fiscal first quarter. Starbucks said it will close 300 underperforming stores in addition to the 600 it already planned to close in the United States. The company had planned to open 200 stores in the United States but said it will scale back to 140.

Starbucks said the closings and other 'labor efficiencies' could cost as many as 6,000 jobs. The company will also lay off 700 employees who work outside of the stores.

Wherever possible the company said it will place the employees in other positions.

'We remain focused on driving the discipline and rigor necessary to create long-term shareholder value, and we are taking aggressive steps to excite customers by providing relevant value and innovation, even during this challenging time,' said Howard Schultz, Starbucks' chairman, president and chief executive, in a statement.

Starbucks, which turned coffee from a penny-ante drink to a custom-made beverage that sold for a premium, has been having problems as a tough economy forced even the caffeine-addicted to rethink their habits. It recently announced such cost-saving moves as limiting decaf coffee preparation in the afternoons.

Today's layoffs seem a typical response by pressured companies reporting tough finances. Other companies, including Caterpillar, retail giant Target, consumer electronics firms and Home Depot, have announced job reductions.

Boeing Co. said it plans to cut 10,000 jobs, or more than 6% of its workforce, after a strike and program delays led to a fourth-quarter loss and a global recession began to erode demand for aircraft. That loss includes 4,500 job cuts previously announced.

Time Warner Inc.'s AOL online unit announced it will cut as much as 10% of its workforce because advertising is down. Time Warner, the world's biggest media company, said this month that it will post a loss for 2008, its first in six years.

The lastest update for job cuts by major companies