Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 7, 1994                   TAG: 9410070040
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IN BUSINESS

NEW YORK - American Express Co. said it will cut 6,000 jobs and close several operation centers over the next two years as it reorganizes its credit card division.

The cuts are aimed at boosting profits and allowing the financial services giant to compete more aggressively in the credit card market. The company declined to estimate how much it will save from the cuts.

American Express will shut three of its six operating centers in Phoenix, eliminating 2,000 of the 7,000 jobs there. In Florida, where it employs 4,900 people, it will cut 1,500 jobs by closing a plant in Miami and reducing the work load at one in Jacksonville.

- Associated Press

Mortgage rates near 9 percent

Mortgage interest rates, already at their highest levels in two years, rose again this week and soon may reach 9 percent, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday. Interest on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages crept up to 8.89 percent from 8.82 percent last week, the highest since April 3, 1992. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.87 percent.

Interest on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.38 percent, the highest since May 8, 1992. A year ago, they were 6.39 percent.

One-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.72 percent, the highest since May 8, 1992. Last year, it was 4.28 percent.

- Knight-Ridder/Tribune