FRANKFURT, Germany — General Motors Europe wants to cut labor costs by 10 percent without eliminating jobs, according to a letter sent to GM employees.

In the letter, obtained by The Associated Press yesterday, GM Europe chief Carl-Peter Forster said the company was being squeezed by falling sales amid the world economic crisis and a trend among consumers to buy smaller, more efficient cars.

GM will attempt to make up for the decline by cutting work hours and pay, as well as "other labor cost-related initiatives," but the company does not envision job cuts at the moment, the letter said.

"So far, we are not contemplating further headcount reductions, but we will try to achieve our structural cost goals through other measures," Forster said in the letter.

Zurich-based General Motors Europe could not be reached for comment.

The company likely was closed yesterday for the American Thanksgiving holiday.

MORTGAGE RATES FALL FOR 4TH WEEK

Rates on 30-year mortgages sank for a fourth straight week, falling below 6 percent for the first time since early October, and are heading lower due to the government's massive new effort to aid the U.S. housing market.

Further drops are likely, analysts said, reflecting the market's positive response to the programs the Federal Reserve and the Treasury unveiled this week to fight the financial crisis.

The Fed's move to spend up to $600 billion buying mortgage-backed securities owned or guaranteed by big mortgage financing titans Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae caused rates to immediately drop by a half-point. Economists say the new Fed program should help keep rates low as the government increases efforts to battle the credit crisis.

Freddie Mac reported Wednesday that rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 5.97 percent this week. That was down from 6.04 percent last week.

Freddie Mac's survey is normally collected from Monday through Wednesday and released on Thursdays. This week, it was put out one day early because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Since only some lenders reported their rates Monday, this week's rates don't reflect the full impact of the Fed's dramatic action.

SOUTH KOREA AGAIN SELLING U.S. BEEF

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's supermarket chains resumed selling U.S. beef yesterday, nearly five months after the government lifted an import ban imposed over fears of mad cow disease.

South Korea had banned American beef since 2003 when a case of mad cow disease was discovered in the U.S. The government lifted that ban in June — a move that sparked weeks of violent protests by South Koreans concerned about the health risks.

American beef has been available in small butcher shops and some restaurants, but major supermarkets and larger restaurants have been shying away from offering U.S. beef out of concerns of possible public backlash.

VOLKSWAGEN: PLANT CRITICAL TO GROWTH

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — With huge dirt movers shaping the site of Volkswagen's $1 billion assembly plant at Chattanooga, Europe's largest automaker says it has no regrets about announcing its arrival as an American employer in hard times.

"We have stuck with our goals of growing our sales in the U.S. market," Volkswagen AG spokeswoman Jill Bratina said. "This plant is critical to that."

Since Volkswagen announced plans to build the plant in July, the global economy has been deflating.

Following the housing, credit and financial crises in the U.S., the possible collapse of General Motors Corp. or Chrysler LLC would likely drag down some auto suppliers and manufacturers of steel, aluminum, electronics and plastics.

Bratina said the company is "absolutely not" having any regrets about the timing of the Chattanooga plant. Volkswagen is also building assembly plants in Russia and India.