June 8, 2002

US Airways Unions Fail To Agree on Concessions US Airways and its unions negotiated throughout the week on concessions by workers, but labor leaders said they were dissastisfied. David N. Siegel, left, the chief executive, is seeking to cut $950 million in annual labor costs for a revamping plan. The airline must submit that plan to the federal government by June 28, the deadline to apply for $1 billion loan guarantees. [Page C2.]

Michael C Skakel is convicted of murdering Martha Moxley, 15-year-old friend and neighbor, 27 years after she was found bludgeoned to death outside family's home in Greenwich, Conn; faces sentence of up to life in prison; appears stunned as verdict is read in State Supreme Court in Norwalk, ending three-and-a-half-week trial at which no direct physical evidence tying him to crime was presented; victims mother, Dorothy Moxley, and brother John praise verdict; defense lawyer Michael Sherman expresses disappointment and vows to appeal; insists on Skakel's innocence; verdict is huge victory for lead prosecutor, Jonathan C Benedict and co-counsels, Christopher Morano and Susann Gill, who seemed to struggle until Benedict's dramatic closing arguments; is triumph for Frank Garr, lead investigator on case since 1995, who doggedly pursued Skakel after decades in which predecessors focused on other subjects; sentencing set for July 19; photos (M)

Mayor Michael R Bloomberg releases hundreds of pages of financial disclosure documents for 2001, but they are quite short on specific figures; city officials are allowed to use letter of alphabet that corresponds to range of amounts in their financial disclosure reports, and Bloomberg uses 'G' -- meaning $500,000 or more -- to report his taxable income, total federal tax deductions, stock portfolio and other items; number of companies he is invested in have substantial presence in New York City and may negotiate with city agencies, and city's Conflict of Interest Board has not yet reached verdict on whether any of these holdings represents potential conflict for Bloomberg (M)

Xcel Energy has sent documents to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission suggesting that competitors Mirant, Duke Energy and Williams Companies may have schemed to drive up price of power in California; documents are part of Xcel's response to demand by commission that 150 energy companies disclose whether their traders used any of market manipulation techniques outlined by Enron lawyers in memos that were released last month; companies deny any improper behavior in California; Moody's Investors Service lowers its ratings on $13 billion of Williams's secured debt; El Paso Corp, Williams and Duke confirm they have received informal requests for information from Securities and Exchange Commission about trades that may have inflated revenues without any other economic benefit, so-called round-trip or wash trades; photo (M)

Clyde Haberman column reports that New York Racing Association is counting on War Emblem to win Belmont Stakes and capture Triple Crown, hoping it may have some spillover effect on track attendance; notes that there were only 3,724 people at Belmont on recent afternoon, most of them over 65 (M)

Bill Bradbury, Oregon's Secretary of State who is Democratic nominee for US Senate seat, is engaged in intense telemarketing campaign to raise funds to unseat Republican incumbent, Gordon H Smith, whose popularity rating in most polls has slipped below critical 50 percent; Democratic officials view Bradbury as capable of victory, but say he faces daunting challenge; Smith has already raised nearly $5 million, more than five times $831,000 taken in by Bradbury, and can dip into his personal fortune; photo (M)

Labor Dept reports that unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent in May from 6 percent in April, offering glint of hope to out-of-work Americans and further evidence of improving economy; reports that number of long-term unemployed rose to 1.64 million last month; report follows series of encouraging indicators about economy this week; report ushers in new measures of employment in several service industries; new statistics incoporate probability-based estimates as well as hard data; tables, graphs on employment; chart shows consumer borrowing (M)

Growing number of researchers and economists say consumer confidence, mainstay of economic forecasting for more than 25 years, may be phantom concept that attempts to quantify state of mind that does not exist; say much-watched indexes, created by George Katonah in 1940's, may not capture mood swings that lead to more or less spending but only more down-to-earth concerns; say sheer randomness in consumer spending makes it impossible for any index or statistic to anticipate consumption; photo (M)

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column reluctantly predicts that Mike Tyson will knock out Lennox Lewis in four rounds in Memphis (Tenn) heavyweight championship bout, but says he hopes that Lewis retains title; photo (M)

Los Angeles Lakers defeat New Jersey Nets, 106-83, in Game 2 of NBA finals to lead series, 2-0; photos (M)

New York Yankees defeat San Francisco Giants, 2-1; photo (M)

State Sens Frank Padavan, Guy J Velella and Serphin R Maltese, Republicans who in past have opposed efforts to eliminate New York City's local school boards, say agreement putting Mayor Michael R Bloomberg in charge of city's school system could become law by June 10 or 11; Bloomberg says teachers' contract and budget deal will quickly follow on agreement; photo (M)