Business and Finance
GTE ANNOUNCED a $1.8 billion pretax charge to restructure and cut 17,000 jobs, or 13% of its work force. The company said the charge should trim fourth-quarter results by about $1.2 billion and trigger a net loss. The three-year streamlining plan is expected to save $1 billion annually as GTE slims down and prepares for competition in the multimedia arena.</br></br>Citicorp plans to take $604 million in charges to reduce operations and personnel further and to sell part of its Quotron unit to Reuters. The banking company also said its net income more than doubled in the fourth quarter.</br></br>---</br></br>Consumer prices rose 0.2% in December and gained 2.7% for 1993. The U.S. inflation outlook is as promising as it has been in decades, holding big implications for economic decisionmaking by individuals and corporate America that has in the past hinged on a belief that inflation is inevitable.</br></br>---