BRIEFCASE TOYS `R' US CUTS 700 IN-STORE JOBS.

Byline: - Daily News Wire Services

PARAMUS, N.J. - Toys ``R'' Us Inc., the nation's second-largest toy retailer, is cutting 700 store management and supervisory positions, the company announced Thursday.

Chief Executive Officer John Eyler said the layoffs, which are effective immediately, are necessary as the company reallocates labor in about 400 stores in the United States.

On Jan. 9, Eyler said a decline in sales at U.S. toy stores during the holiday season would keep the company from meeting analysts' earnings forecast for its 2002 fiscal year, which ends Saturday.

The laid-off employees will receive severance packages, benefits support and referrals to state and local job placement assistance.

Mortgage rates keep going down

WASHINGTON - Mortgage rates around the country edged down this week, with rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages dropping to their lowest level in 19 years of record-keeping.

The average interest rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 5.90 percent for this week, down slightly from 5.91 percent last week, Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its latest nationwide survey of rates.

Rates on 30-year mortgages started the new year by dropping to a new low of 5.85 percent for the week ending Jan. 3. That rate was the lowest since the mortgage giant began tracking 30-year mortgage rates in 1971. Records that reach back earlier than Freddie Mac's indicate that rate is the lowest since the early 1960s.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing, rates fell this week to 5.28 percent, compared with 5.31 percent last week.

Rates for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages this week dropped to 3.89 percent, the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking these rates in 1984. Last week's rate on one-year ARMs was 3.93 percent.

A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 7.02 percent, 15-year mortgages were 6.51 percent and one-year adjustable mortgages stood at 5.12 percent.

Recall ordered of big Zenith TVs

WASHINGTON - About 80,000 large-screen televisions are being recalled because they can leak coolant fluid, posing a fire hazard, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Thursday.

Zenith Electronics Corp. of Lincolnshire, Ill., has received 45 reports since 1998 of coolant leaks resulting in smoking or charring of TVs, including four cases of minor property damage outside TVs. No injuries have been reported.

The recalled analog projection televisions, manufactured in Mexico, have screens ranging in size from 46 inches to 60 inches. They were manufactured from April 1995 through July 1997, and August 1998 through November 1998. The date of manufacture is printed on a white label on the back of the TVs.

The units were sold at appliance stores and department stores nationwide from about April 1995 through April 1999, for between $1,200 and $2,800.

The commission advised consumers to immediately contact Zenith anytime at [phone] to schedule a free inspection and repair.

Goodyear to shift work out of U.S.?

AKRON, Ohio - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has told employees in a company newsletter that it might idle 15 percent of its North American tire-making capacity this year.

But Goodyear spokesman Chuck Sinclair said Thursday that the company had no immediate plans to shut any North American tire plants.

He said the goal is to shift production of some tires to countries with lower labor costs, and said the company isn't focused on any specific amount of cuts.