AUTOS

Work Force Shrinks by 10,000, GM Says: Six months after General Motors Corp. unveiled its biggest restructuring in history, more than 10,000 blue-collar jobs have been slashed from the payroll, executives of the auto maker said. The cuts, accomplished through early retirement, attrition and selected buyouts, appear to put GM ahead of schedule to pare 15,000 blue-collar jobs this year. “We’re not unhappy with our progress at this point, but we still have a way to go,” said John Maciarz, GM spokesman for industrial relations. The cutbacks come as GM is struggling to return its North American automotive operations to profitability after losses of more than $7 billion last year.