RELL PRESSURES METLIFE ON JOBS:

Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell said she is “extremely unhappy” as she learns more about the possibility of significant job losses resulting from MetLife’s planned acquisition of Travelers Life & Annuity in Hartford. Rell said she has spoken with MetLife Chairman Robert Benmosche, face-to-face and on the phone, and that her staff has met with his people. “But we still do not have a comfort level as to a definitive number of jobs that are in jeopardy, except that the numbers will be significant. I want exact numbers and exact guarantees,” she said in a statement.

Rell said she met with Benmosche on March 7 in her office, following MetLife’s January 31 announcement that it planned to acquire Travelers from Citigroup for $11.5 billion.