> Basically the U.S. economy is flat to slightly positive at the macro
> level, and sort of awful at lower levels.
>
> Doug
NYT 2-06-2003:
"About one million people appear to have dropped out of the labor force since last summer, neither working nor looking for a job, according to government figures.
The surge in discouraged workers is the most significant since the months immediately after the recession's start. This suggests that the pain of joblessness has worsened even though the official unemployment rate, which counts only people looking for work, held steady at 6 percent in December."
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/business/06JOBS.html?th)
Brian