By Evelina M. Tainer, Chief Economist, Econoday
11/2/01

Economic news was uniformly anemic - save for a spurt in motor vehicle sales boosted by zero percent financing. The civilian unemployment rate jumped to its highest level in five years while nonfarm payrolls posted its largest monthly decline since 1980! Real GDP posted its largest quarterly decline since 1991 when the U.S. was last in recession. The news has generally been friendly for the bond market because investors believe the Fed will cut rates again. Equity investors are pretty much ignoring the data and looking ahead to 2002 when the U.S. economic and profit recovery is likely to begin.