TORONTO (Reuters) - Commercial printer Transcontinental Inc (TCLa.TO) (TCLb.TO) is slashing 1,500 jobs -- or about 10 percent of its workforce -- as a rapid deterioration of the economy forces its customers to cut back on marketing spending, it said on Wednesday.

The company has also put in place a hiring freeze, reduced capital investments and is implementing other measures such as unpaid leave and reduced work weeks to cut costs.

All told, the actions should cut costs by about C$75 million ($60 million) annualized, it said.

On its website, the company states it had 15,000 employees in 2008. Montreal-based Transcontinental bills itself as the biggest printer in Canada and the sixth-largest in North America.

In recent weeks the rapid deterioration of the economy has reduced the communication and marketing investments of a number of Transcontinental's customers, significantly affecting some of the corporation's business niches, the company said.

Transcontinental shares were up 47 Canadian cents, or 5.6 percent, at C$8.90 on the Toronto Stock Exchange shortly after the cuts were announced.

($1=$1.26 Canadian) (Reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; editing by Rob Wilson)

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