U.S. Defense Industries Likely to Cut Thousands of Jobs

Uncertainty over the size of cuts in the U.S. defense budget leads American defense firms -- small and large -- to start laying off workers, Kristina Wong of The Washington Times reported. Sequestration -- across-the-board cuts -- could lead to as many as 1.2 million lost jobs, Stephen S. Fuller of George Mason University, told The Times. Wong explained that sequestration would force the Pentagon to slash $46 billion from its budget this year and as much as $500 billion from its 10-year spending plan.