RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
NPR's business news starts with layoffs at Hewlett-Packard.
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MONTAGNE: HP, the world's leading PC manufacturer, announced it will lay off 27,000 workers over the next two years - and a third of those jobs being cut will be in the United States. HP's CEO says the layoffs are part of a restructuring that will include greater spending on research and development. The firm also announced second-quarter profits are down by a third. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.