In a few minutes, Yahoo will release an earnings report concerning the fourth quarter of 2010, but prior to that, the company’s admitted that yet another round of layoffs is taking place.  The number of affected individuals is probably in the neighborhood of 140.

Obviously, that’s not great news for those people, and it may not be a good sign for Yahoo, either.  Many companies are expanding, not contracting, as the economy recovers.

A related, key fact: Google in particular hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.  Remember that the search giant announced two acquisitions today and also indicated it would be hiring thousands of employees all over the world.

Yahoo does have an explanation for this move, however.  The company said in a statement, "The personnel changes we are making are part of our ongoing strategy to best position Yahoo for revenue growth and margin expansion and to support our strategy to deliver differentiated products and experiences to the marketplace.  We’ll continue to hire on a global basis to support our key priorities."

Also, to clarify (a little) about how many employees are losing their jobs, Yahoo said, "Today’s action impacts approximately 1 percent of the global employee base."

Check back at WebProNews later to see how Yahoo performed in the fourth quarter of last year.