NATION

NATION
IBM to move thousands of software jobs overseas
ARMONK, N.Y. -- IBM Corp. plans to move up to several thousand skilled software jobs from the United States to India, China and other countries, which could amount to one of the biggest such actions yet in the technology industry.
IBM documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal said about 4,700 programming jobs could be shifted overseas to save costs, a growing high-tech industry trend known as offshoring.
More than 900 people are already scheduled to be told of the move in the first half of 2004, while another 3,700 jobs have been identified as having the "potential to move offshore," the Journal said.
Lowering consumer prices indicate stronger economy
WASHINGTON --Consumer prices dipped by 0.2 percent in November, pulled down by cheaper gasoline, clothes and airline fares, fresh evidence that inflation isn't a problem even as the economy has shifted into a higher gear.
The Labor Department's latest reading on the Consumer Price Index means that for the first 11 months of this year, consumer prices have risen at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.8 percent, slower than the 2.4 percent rise for all of 2002.
Associated Press