Business news digest

REGION

AK Steel plans layoffs of salaried employees

WEST CHESTER, Ohio — AK Steel Holding Corp. says it will temporarily lay off an undisclosed number of salaried workers due to falling demand for steel.

The company, with headquarters in suburban Cincinnati, said that the layoffs could become permanent and will likely affect employees in all of AK Steel’s plants and offices. Officials didn’t say how many workers would be affected by the layoffs. AK Steel has about 1,500 salaried employees, 800 of whom work at its main steel plant in Middletown and the company’s West Chester headquarters.

NATION

Labor Department plans

WASHINGTON — Hilda Solis, President-elect Barack Obama’s pick for labor secretary, told lawmakers that if confirmed she will work to expand job training programs, enforce workplace safety, health and fair pay laws and make sure employee pension plans are secure.

The California congresswoman appeared last week before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to tell lawmakers how she would lead a department that Obama says he wants to “once again stand up for working families.” Solis would be the nation’s first Hispanic labor secretary.

GMAC chairman leaves

NEW YORK — GMAC Financial Services LLC, the financing arm of General Motors Corp., says Chairman J. Ezra Merkin is stepping down effective immediately, as it names a new board of directors.

GMAC said it is naming the new board as part of its approval by the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company. The new board will be finalized by March 24. GMAC says Lenard Tessler, managing director of partial owner Cerberus Capital Management LP, will replace Merkin in the interim.

Associated Press