2 New Reports Point to Cooling Trend

Fresh evidence indicating a cooling economy came with the release of reports showing a slide in consumer confidence from September and only a slight rise in worker pay during the summer. The Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, said its consumer confidence index fell by 5.6 points to 106.2 this month. The index jumped 5 points in August and 6.9 points in July, hitting a six-year high before weakening slightly in September. The Labor Department reported employment costs rose 0.6% in the third quarter, compared with 0.8% in the second and the smallest gain since a 0.6% increase in the third quarter of 1995. For the 12 months ended in September, it rose 2.8%, down slightly from 2.9% during the year that ended June 30.