BRIEFCASE NORTHROP TO END COMPUTER RESALE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Century City-based Northrop Grumman Corp. announced Monday it will shut down its computer reseller business.

The computer reseller business, which sells technology equipment to government agencies, comprises the company's Enterprise Information Technology business unit.

Enterprise Information Technology is based in Greenbelt, Md. About 300 of its 365 employees work at the Greenbelt location.

Northrop Grumman announced its decision to exit the computer reseller business on Jan. 24.

``After a thorough analysis of our options, we determined it was more advantageous for the company and our shareholders to quickly and decisively shut down the business,'' said James O'Neill, corporate vice president and president of the company's Information Technology sector.

``We will continue to honor our commitments to all of our customers, suppliers and vendor partners,'' he said.

``With a large number of job openings at the IT sector and companywide, we will work diligently to redeploy affected employees.''

Transportation demand hits low

WASHINGTON - Orders to U.S. factories plunged by the largest amount in 5(bul) years in January, reflecting a big drop in demand for airplanes.

The Labor Department reported that orders for manufactured goods fell 4.5 percent last month, the first decline after three consecutive gains, and the biggest drop since an 8.7 percent plunge in July 2000.

The weakness came from a plunge in orders for commercial and military airplanes. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, factory orders posted a solid 1.6 percent increase, the best showing in five months.

Analysts said this advance showed that manufacturing was doing well at the start of the new year.

Total orders for transportation products dropped 31 percent in January as demand for autos edged down 0.4 percent and orders for commercial aircraft fell by 68.3 percent. Orders for military aircraft dropped by 20.9 percent.

Consumer groups oppose merger

NEW YORK - Several of the nation's largest consumer groups said Monday they would oppose AT&T's purchase of BellSouth Corp., arguing the deal will reduce competition and drive up prices in the telecommunications industry.

Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America said they would urge the Justice Department to block AT&T Inc.'s $67 billion offer.

The consumer groups also asked their members to contact the Federal Communications Commission, which must approve the acquisition, and to petition their congressmen to try to prevent the deal from going through.

If approved, the combined company would become the largest telecommunications operator in the world and include Cingular Wireless LLC, the nation's largest wireless operator.

Cingular today is jointly owned by AT&T and BellSouth.