Consumer confidence falls\nNEW YORK -- Continued job worries resulted in an unexpected decline in consumer confidence in September, the second consecutive monthly dip, a New York-based private research group said Tuesday.\nThe Consumer Confidence Index fell to 96.8 from a revised reading of 98.7 in August, according to The Conference Board. Analysts had expected a reading of 99.5.\nEconomists closely track consumers' outlook about the economy and employment because consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of all U.S. economic activity.
Delta CEO takes 10 percent pay-cut\nATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines Inc.'s chief executive said Tuesday he is declining his six-figure salary for the rest of the year as he detailed a 10 percent pay cut that will affect senior officials, administrative staff, and ticket and gate agents.\nCEO Gerald Grinstein also said in a memo to employees that the Atlanta-based company will increase the shared cost of healthcare coverage and make changes to retirement benefits as part of its turnaround plan.\nDelta would not immediately say how much salary Grinstein is relinquishing. His predecessor, Leo Mullin, earned about $500,000 a year.\nAlso Tuesday, Delta's pilots said they have ratified an agreement allowing Delta to employ newly retired pilots to prevent staffing shortages. Delta has warned it would have to file for bankruptcy if it didn't slow the pace of early pilot retirements by the end of September.
Motorola cuts jobs\nCHICAGO -- Motorola Inc. will eliminate 1,000 jobs and take a charge of $50 million for severance benefits as it moves to complete a spin-off of its money-losing semiconductor unit, the company said Tuesday.\nAnalysts said the reductions will help the world's No. 2 cell phone maker fine-tune its operations.\nSome of the job cuts are from corporate positions that Motorola officials determined were unnecessary after the company's chip operations began working independently as Freescale Semiconductor Inc., Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch said.
