ROCHESTER -- Eastman Kodak Co. said Thursday its loss tripled to $353 million in the first quarter as the global economic downturn diluted demand for both digital and film-based photography products.

The photography pioneer said it is suspending its quarterly dividend, trimming the salaries of its top executives and requiring U.S. employees to take a one-week leave without pay this year.

Kodak's loss amounted to $1.32 a share in the January-March quarter, compared with a loss of $115 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier.

Sales plunged 29 percent to $1.48 billion from $2.09 billion a year ago, hit by a sharp slowdown not only for chemical-based film and paper but a new world of electronic-imaging products from cameras and picture frames to retailer kiosks and high-speed commercial presses.

Excluding restructuring and other one-time items totaling $105 million, or 39 cents a share, its latest loss was 95 cents a share. Analysts were looking, on average, for a comparable loss of 33 cents a share.

Digital sales slumped 29 percent to $972 billion from $1.366 billion in last year's first quarter, while traditional film-based revenue fell 31 percent to $503 million from $724 million.

Converting the bulk of its photography and printing business from high-profit film to digital technology cost Kodak $3.4 billion from 2004 through 2007. It is cutting 3,500 to 4,500 jobs in 2009, which could reduce its work force to a 1930s-era low of 19,900 from a 1988 peak of 145,300.

In December, Kodak said executives would miss out on salary hikes in 2009. But Chief Executive Antonio Perez, whose base salary of nearly $1.1 million hasn't changed since he took the helm in 2005, will take a 15 percent salary cut for the remainder of the year while top executives will take 10 percent cuts.

Its consumer digital imaging division absorbed a $157 million operating loss in the quarter compared with a year-ago loss of $111 million as sales slid 33 percent to $369 million.

Hurt by a softer commercial printing market, graphic communications posted a $60 million operating loss, compared with a $1 million loss a year earlier, as sales fell 26 percent to $603 million.

The film, photofinishing and entertainment unit had an operating profit of $8 million, down from $26 million, as sales dropped 31 percent to $503 million. Sizeable cost reductions and lower retiree benefits were more than offset by a slide in consumer film sales and unfavorable currency exchange rates.

Kodak is bracing for an estimated 12 percent to 18 percent slump in sales this year because of the recession. Through 2012, it expects revenue to rise 4 percent a year on average, driven by an 8 percent to 10 percent increase in digital sales.