November 15, 1996

Commerce Dept reports retail sales rose just two-tenths of 1 percent in October, raising questions about expectations of significantly improved Christmas shopping season; Labor Dept finds consumer prices rose three-tenths of 1 percent for second consecutive month; over all, latest figures portray economy that continues to expand at moderate pace and without generating anything near pickup in inflation that has typically flared at such a mature stage of business cycle; consumer price index has advanced at 3.3 percent pace over first 10 months, compared with 2.5 percent for all of 1995; first-time applications for unemployment benefits eased 4,000 last week, to 328,000, with four-week average now standing at 330,250; graph (M)

Federal grand jury investigating scandal at Texaco Inc is said to have obtained records indicating that a company lawyer gave instructions on how to withhold damaging documents from plaintiffs suing company for racial discrimination; at issue is draft memo from 1994 reporting results of employee survey, including fact that only 37 percent believed criteria for promotions were applied consistently and fairly, and only 38 percent thought they could express such misgivings openly without fear of retribution; handwritten notation from lawyer advises Texaco executives to delay publishing survey results to avoid it becoming part of 'discovery' process in discrimination suit; in another development, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission informs both sides in suit that they cannot settle case without agency's participation (M)

United Network for Organ Sharing, which controls allocation of organs for transplant, votes to change substantially rules for determining which dying patients get livers, giving those with best prospects of survival top priority; decision revises longstanding policy of putting sickest patients at top of list and places organization at odds with tradition in American medical practice (M)

New Jersey Assembly unanimously approves bill that would allow state boards and agencies to suspend professional or occupational license of anyone who defaults or fails to make payments on student loan guaranteed by state or Federal Governments (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Two teen-agers are arrested in killing of Yafeu Fula in Orange; Fula was childhood friend of Tupac Shakur who witnessed fatal shooting of rap artist in Las Vegas on Sept 7 (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)