HP expands job cuts by 2,000

NEW YORK — Hewlett-Packard Co. is planning to cut about 2,000 more jobs than it had previously announced, as CEO Meg Whitman tries to turn the company around.

In a regulatory filing Monday, the computer and printer maker said it will cut 29,000 jobs by October 2014, up from the 27,000 cuts it announced in May.

It didn’t explain why it had raised the number. As before, it expects some of the job cuts to come through an early retirement program.

The company also says it expects to record charges of $3.7 billion, mainly for the job cuts. That’s up from the May estimate of $3.5 billion.

Last month, HP posted the largest loss in its 73-year history. It’s been hit by the shift in technology spending from PCs and printers towards cellphones and tablets.

Shares of the Palo Alto., Calif., company rose 30 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $17.59 in morning trading, as major stock indexes edged down. The shares are still close to their eight-year low of $16.77, hit Aug. 30.