CHICAGO — Home Depot plans to eliminate 7,000 jobs while shutting down its smaller home improvement brands as the recession continues to batter the nation's housing market.

The nation's biggest home improvement retailer said Monday the cuts will affect about 2 percent of its 300,000 workers and cause the Atlanta-based chain to record a $532 million pretax charge, mostly in the current fourth quarter, which ends Feb. 1. Most of the cuts affect workers at Expo Design Centers, YardBIRDS, Design Centers and HD Bath, a bath remodeling business. Combined, the four operate about four dozen locations.

Those chains' stores will close in the next two months. Home Depot said Expo, a high-end retailer that sells everything from throw pillows, sconces and appliances to stylish bathroom remodels and upscale kitchen makeovers, never performed well financially.