THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 17, 1996 TAG: 9610170319
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 40 lines
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, the nation's inflation watchdog, said Wednesday he has doubts about the accuracy of government measures of worker productivity, a key to assessing inflation. ``I have serious questions about the quality of the data that we employ to measure output in today's economy,'' Greenspan said in a speach Wednesday night at a dinner hosted by the Conference Board, a business-financed research organization. The speech hardened a position that Greenspan has flirted with publicly for some time. He has hinted before that official measurement of productivity, which is the output per hour worked, has been too low and fails to take into account the increase in productivity that technology has allowed. (Associated Press) Air France announces Delta, Continental links
Air France agreed Wednesday to coordinate operations with Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines and pool their sales and marketing efforts. If finalized, the accords would give travelers easier access to Air France's domestic, African and Asian flights, as well as to Continental's growing Latin American network and Delta's vast U.S. route system. More than 3 million passengers fly between the United States and France each year. (AP) Texas Instruments plans to reduce work force
Texas Instruments Inc., reacting to an 85 percent drop in profits and a collapse in prices for memory chips, disclosed a plan Tuesday that could cut its U.S. work force by as much as 15 percent. The Dallas-based electronics giant is asking about 5,300 employees to retire early to help the company cut costs. Company officials declined to speculate on what the company might do if not enough people accept. TI said its profits fell to $44 million, compared to $289 million in the year-earlier period. After some special charges related to an acquisition, the company said it was $148 million in the red for the quarter ended Sept. 30. (Knight-Ridder) by CNB