IN BRIEF

DALLAS

Exxon Mobil chairman, chief to keep both jobs

Exxon Mobil Corp. chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson will retain both of those jobs at the world's biggest publicly traded oil company after a highly public, Rockefeller-led push to separate the roles that failed again Wednesday.

Stripping Tillerson of the chairman's job in favor of an independent director was the main focus of the company's annual shareholder meeting at a downtown symphony hall. In the end, the measure got support of only 39.5 percent of shareholders, slightly less than last year's 40 percent, despite a hard push by descendants of John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Exxon Mobil predecessor Standard Oil Corp.

A variety of institutional investors in the U.S. and abroad also lined up behind the proposal.

DETROIT

Ford Motor will lay off salaried employees

Ford Motor Co. plans to lay off salaried employees by August as part of a restructuring in the face of slumping sales and record-high gas prices, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Marcey Evans said the company hasn't yet determined how many white-collar jobs will be cut.

But she said that unlike previous rounds of layoffs in recent years, employees won't be offered voluntary buyout packages with financial or early retirement incentives. Evans said the company wants the cuts completed by Aug. 1, which is not enough time to roll out voluntary offers and wait for employees to accept them.

DETROIT

American Axle will cut staff by more than half

American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings said Wednesday it will cut more than half of its U.S. hourly work force, or 2,000 jobs, through early retirement and buyout offers, plant closures and layoffs.

The moves were made possible by a new contract ratified last week by the United Auto Workers union that came after a nearly three-month strike.

The auto parts maker said its total hourly labor costs would drop from $73.48 before the new contract to between $30 and $45. The cost will vary by factory because they have different wage and benefit costs.

United Parcel Service foresees new revenue

United Parcel Service, the world's largest package-delivery company, said it expects as much as $1 billion a year in new revenue as it takes over U.S. air shipments for Deutsche Post AG's unprofitable DHL unit.

UPS rose the most in two months in New York trading after announcing the tentative agreement Wednesday with Deutsche Post, Europe's biggest mail carrier. A final contract should be completed in 2008 and run 10 years, Atlanta-based UPS said.

LOS ANGELES

Bank of America ousts Countrywide president

Showing Countrywide Financial Corp. President David Sambol the door, Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday that it would appoint one of its own top executives to oversee mortgage operations after completing its acquisition of Countrywide.

When it announced in January that it would buy Countrywide, Bank of America said that Sambol, the No. 2 executive to Countrywide founder and Chairman Angelo Mozilo, would stay on to run the nation's largest home-loan operation from Calabasas, Calif., where Countrywide is based.

But that role will be handed to Barbara Desoer, Bank of America's chief technology and operations officer and a member of the bank's management operating committee.

ATLANTA

Delta flight attendants lack votes to unionize

Delta Air Lines flight attendants have again failed to get the necessary votes to form a union.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said in a statement Wednesday that not enough of the eligible flight attendants voted, and therefore the results, despite showing solid support from those people who did vote, did not meet the certification requirements of the National Mediation Board.

Federal rules require a majority turnout by those eligible to vote.

There were only 5,375 total votes cast. National Mediation Board rules required 6,691 ballots to be cast for the election to count. There were 13,380 Delta flight attendants eligible to vote.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices decline on durable goods data

Treasury prices fell sharply Wednesday as durable goods data gave investors another reason to withdraw from government securities.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 0.84 points to 98.75 and yielded 4.03 percent, up from 3.92 percent late Tuesday, according to BGCantor Market Data.