Business and Finance
PROFITS SANK 16% in the first quarter from already-depressed year-earlier levels, according to a Wall Street Journal survey of 646 major companies. The drop was greater than many analysts expected, but some said the worst may be over.</br></br>The unemployment rate fell to 6.6% in April from 6.8% in March. But the surprising decline, the first drop in nearly a year, may be a fluke. The number of jobs, meanwhile, continued to decline, but at a slower pace.</br></br>Bond prices plunged and the dollar surged on the employment reports, but stock prices were little changed.</br></br>---</br></br>Exxon and Alaska withdrew a proposed settlement of civil claims over the Valdez spill. The company and U.S. and state officials are considering other ways to avoid a court battle.