Los Angeles (dpa) - Sales at Dell Inc dropped 3 per cent in the quarter, but the company said Thursday that it increased its earnings per share by cutting jobs.

The Texas-based computer maker said that the global economic slowdown pushed third-quarter sales down to 15.16 billion dollars from 16.21 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Total earnings were 727 million dollars, down from 766 million dollars a year ago. But earnings per share rose 9 per cent to 37 cents, thanks to Dell's aggressive share buy back programme.

Dell said it ended the quarter with 2,200 fewer jobs than in the second quarter, and that its head count decreased 9 per cent from the year-ago period.

The company's consumer PC revenue increased 10 per cent worldwide as unit shipments jumped 32 per cent. Sales from outside the US made up 48 per cent of Dell's total revenue in the quarter. Sales in Brazil, Russia, India and China increased 20 per cent. (dpa)