The nation's largest newspaper publisher is laying off another 700 employees to cope with an unrelenting advertising slump.

Gannett, the owner of USA Today and more than 80 other daily U.S. newspapers, hoped to complete the cuts Tuesday. The layoffs are occurring at most Gannett newspapers but not at USA Today.

The payroll reductions represent 2 percent of Gannett's 32,600 employees. The division targeted in the cutbacks employs 22,400 people at newspapers that include The Indianapolis Star and The Arizona Republic.

The layoffs are Gannett Co.'s biggest in two years and are the latest austerity measures triggered by a steep drop in newspaper advertising that began in 2006.

Gannett's annual revenue has fallen more than $2 billion, or nearly 30 percent, since then.