Associated Press: Panasonic Corp. said Wednesday it will slash 15,000 jobs and shut down 27 plants worldwide to cope with plunging demand for its TVs, semiconductors and other electronics products.

The world's largest maker of plasma display TVs also announced a net loss for the October-December quarter and lowered its forecast for the fiscal year through March to a net loss of 380 billion yen ($4.2 billion), its first annual loss in six years.

Panasonic joins a slew of other major Japanese companies, including Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., in announcing job cuts and forecasting a full-year loss as the global slowdown batters the world's second-largest economy.

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