PageSix.com, the New York Post‘s attempt to compete with TMZ.com, is shutting down. No, not the paper’s long-time Page Six, which still has its web page, but the Post‘s expanded 24/7 stand-alone celebrity gossip online site. According to reports, it tried to staff up, especially on the West Coast, where TMZ currently has a stranglehold on the minutiae of what goes down every night at Les Deux. Jennifer Jehn, senior VP of PageSix.com, issued a statement today: ”Given the difficulty in the economy, it was not the right time for this launch.” This, combined with recent falling circulation numbers at the gossip magazines, seems to indicate audience fatigue about Britney, Paris, Nicole, ad nauseum. But it’s always a bummer when people lose their jobs: 18 editorial and support staffers will be let go and 3 reassigned inside the Post.

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.