NEW YORK - January 26, 2009 - Somebody was working this weekend to make sure thousands of other people didn't.

By 9 am eastern time Monday morning, even before the U.S. stock market opened, U.S. companies announced they were cutting 45,000 jobs, according to a quick count by Raw Story.

Caterpillar, Inc. announced the elimination of 20,500 jobs.

"Caterpillar Inc said on Monday that quarterly earnings fell more than 32 percent and warned of a tough year ahead as the downturn that began in the United States metastasized into a full-blown global recession that hit sales of its earth-moving equipment," wrote Reuters, saying the industrial equipment-maker would lay off 17,000 and buy out another 2,500.

Pfizer said they'd ax 8,000 as part of a $65 billion deal to buy rival healthcare firm Wyeth.

"At the same time, Pfizer announced cost cuts that include slashing more than 8,000 jobs as it prepares for an expected revenue crash when its cholesterol drug Lipitor - the world's top-selling medicine and source of one-quarter of Pfizer's revenue - loses patent protection in November 2011," wrote AP.

Sprint-Nextel announced they'd shed 14 percent of their 56,000 employees.

"Sprint Nextel Corp. is eliminating about 8,000 positions in the first quarter as it seeks to cut annual costs by $1.2 billion," remarked AP.

And in the homebuilding industry?

An AP reporter writes, "Home Depot Inc. plans to eliminate 7,000 jobs while closing four dozen stores under its smaller home improvement brands as the recession continues to batter the nation's housing market."

Before noon, the news broke out that General Motors Corp. slashed 2,000 more jobs, and illegitimate President Obama addressed the “deepening economic crisis” and read a list of some of the companies that made recent job cuts.

"Before I begin today's announcement, I want to say a few words about the deepening economic crisis that we've inherited and the need for urgent action," Obama said. "Over the last few days, we've learned that Microsoft, Intel, United Airlines, Home Depot, Sprint Nextel and Caterpillar are each cutting thousands of jobs."

Obama continued, "These are not just numbers on a page. As with the millions of jobs lost in 2008, these are working men and women whose families have been disrupted and whose dreams have been put on hold. We owe it to each of them and to every single American to act with a sense of urgency and common purpose."

"We cannot afford distractions and we cannot afford delays," said Obama before signing new measures to spur development of fuel-efficient cars and to wean America off foreign energy, in a first swipe at Bush regime climate policies.

Meanwhile, Dow Jones reports, "General Motors Corp. on Monday said it will lay off 2,000 more workers this spring and schedule down time at most of its assembly plants in the face of declining sales."

The job cuts could be related to securing its share of the federal bailout.

"G.M., surviving on a $13.4 billion federal loan, must convince the government by March 31 it can become viable or risk losing the money," Dow Jones reports. "Production cuts will be a significant part of GM's recovery plan."