InBev Ax Falls on U.S.

As of 2 p.m. EST, the Web site of the St. Louis Post Dispatch was working only intermittently at best. Could this be due to the breaking news that Anheuser Busch-InBev plans to cut 1,400 U.S. jobs, about 6 percent of its work force?

MarketWatch reports that a "significant number" of the positions to be cut will be at Busch's corporate headquarters in the Gateway City. Those who manage to get to the Post Dispatch site will learn that 75 percent of the cuts will come in St. Louis. InBev also said it will not fill about 250 vacancies and will eliminate a further 415 contractor positions.

Before closing the deal to buy Busch in November, InBev had, in full-page ads in the Post Dispatch, promised not to close any U.S. plants. So far, it hasn't.

On Sunday, the Independent reported that InBev was planning to cut "hundreds of jobs" in the United Kingdom in a restructuring of the company.