The magnetic properties of sputtered ($Ni_{83}Fe_{17}/Au/Co/Au$) multilayers with various thicknesses of Au (0.5 {leq} t_{Au} {leq} 3 nm), Ni-Fe ($1{leq}t_{Ni-Fe}{leq}4nm$) and Co ($0.2{leq}t_{co}{leq}1.5nm$) layers were characterized. An alternating in-plane and out-of-plane anisotropy of the ferromagnetic layers was achieved for the structures ($t_{Au}{geq}1.5nm$) showing a weak coupling between the Ni-Fe layers with an in-plane anisotropy and the Co layers ($0.3{leq}t_Co{leq}1.2nm$) with a perpendicular anisotropy. For such a structure, a detailed discussion on the GMR effect is presented, relating to the magnetization reversal from a mutually perpendicular magnetic configuration at the remanence to a parallel one at the saturation. An influence of the dense labyrinth domain structure on the magnetoresistance effect is also addressed.