BRIEFCASE SATISFACTION WITH INSURERS RANKED.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

WESTLAKE VILLAGE - Amica Mutual ranks highest in overall auto insurance customer satisfaction among U.S. insurers, according to a J.D. Power and Associates survey released Thursday.

Automobile Club of Southern California and Erie Insurance Group closely follow Amica in customer satisfaction, ranking significantly higher than the industry average.

Mortgage rates hit new record low

WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped to a new low this week, providing even more fuel for the mortgage-refinancing boom.

In a nationwide survey released Thursday, Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported that the average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.05 percent this week, the lowest level in 32 years of record keeping. Last week, 30-year rates averaged 6.18 percent.

It's the fourth new low reached on 30-year mortgage rates this year.

Two weeks ago, rates on 30-year mortgages hit a low of 6.15 percent, surpassing the previous low of 6.22 percent set in mid-August. That low had bested the prior low of 6.34 percent reached in late July.

Housing starts dip 3rd month in a row

WASHINGTON - Housing construction fell in August for the third consecutive month, but mortgage rates dipped this week to a new three- decade low, a factor that might motivate more house hunters to buy homes.

Home builders broke ground on a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.61 million units in August, a 2.2 percent decline from July, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Although the drop surprised analysts who were predicting an increase in housing projects, they didn't find it alarming.

Even with the declines over the past three months, the level of housing construction is still quite good, economists said.

AOL Time Warner board keeps Case

NEW YORK - Only days ago, AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case was being called a corporate casualty in the making, about to be tossed out along with last week's Time magazine.

But the man behind America Online's gobbling up of the world's largest media company held on to his job at the company's board meeting Thursday.

News reports said AOL Time Warner's directors were angling to oust Case, spurred on by shareholders angry about a sharp drop in the company's stock since the 2001 merger.

Although some of the 14 board members may have been prepared to see Case go, the number was less than the three-fourths majority needed to force him out.

Long distance plan advances

SAN JOSE - In a contradictory ruling that may lead to years of litigation, California regulators Thursday endorsed Pacific Bell's application to enter the long-distance business. The state Public Utilities Commission ruled Pac Bell has complied with the federal rules to sell long-distance service. But it also found the company has failed to satisfy the state's own requirements to enter the California market.

Pac Bell's application will now go forward for review by the Federal Communications Commission. But the company may ultimately have to strike a compromise with state regulators before it can begin selling long distance.

Both Pac Bell and its adversaries - rival long-distance carriers and consumer advocates - claimed to be pleased by the 4-to-1 vote, which came six years after Pacific Bell first applied to enter the state's $15 billion-a-year long-distance business.

Pacific Bell, owned by San Antonio-based SBC Communications, said it plans to send its application to the FCC on Friday and hopes to be selling long distance in California by the end of the year.