Short Reports

Americans, who have grown accustomed to nothing but good news on inflation, got a jolt last week when consumer prices jumped by the largest amount in nearly nine years, led by a sharp increase in gasoline prices. That development will be on the table today when Federal Reserve policy-makers meet, but private economists believe it will take more than one bad number to prompt the central bank to start raising interest rates.

American Airlines has reached a tentative agreement with its flight attendants’ union, which is touting the deal as a new standard for the industry. Denise Hedges, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said the contract provides pay increases, improvements in retirement and increased scheduling flexibility.

Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com both plan to offer 50 percent discounts on books listed on the New York Times bestseller list. The discounts will apply to both hardcover and paperback titles, the retailers said.

Labor troubles are threatening what looks like a record sales year in the U.S. auto market, but the dispute involves the Teamsters Union and 17 trucking companies that haul new cars and trucks, not the automakers themselves. The Teamsters contract, which expires May 31, covers about 12,200 drivers, mechanics, yard and office workers nationwide. If a strike is called, it could be against one, several or all of the 17 major trucking companies that contract with automakers to move new cars and trucks to dealers.

Defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. will buy Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., the Savannah-based maker of luxury business jets, for about $4.6 billion.

Sales in 1998 for American Stores, which will become a subsidiary of Albertson’s, were $19.8 billion . The total was reported incorrectly in a text box in Sunday’s paper.