The Courier-Journal newspaper has laid off 11 employees in the circulation, advertising, finance, production and advertising departments.

The announcement comes amid employee furloughs and it follows a mixed earnings report from parent company Gannett. In a story on the Courier website, president and publisher Arnold Garson blamed the cuts on the poor economy. A call to his office placed at 4:55 pm on Friday has not been returned.

Update:

Garson has replied to WFPL with the following statement:

“The Courier-Journal laid off 11 employees on Friday. The employees worked in 5 departments; none of them worked in news.

A lot of good things are happening at The Courier-Journal and in the newspaper industry, and we are optimistic about the future. But the economy remains fragile and it’s necessary for us to continue implementing efficiencies that make good business sense.”