Nextel Posts Wider Loss

Wireless-telephone company Nextel Communications Inc. will cut 800 jobs, or 5% of its U.S. work force, after its first-quarter loss widened on higher costs. The loss was $372 million, or 56 cents a share, compared with a loss from operations of $279 million, or 45 cents, a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial was a loss of 51 cents. Sales climbed 48% to $1.74 billion. The company said it’s spending more to attract subscribers as the U.S. economy slows. The job cuts are coming from the Reston, Va.-based company’s U.S. work force of 16,000, Nextel said. Shares of Nextel, the No. 5 U.S. wireless carrier, rose $2.44 to close at $18.69 on Nasdaq.