2001 looks like it will mark the point of low growth for this portion of the business cycle.
The national economy continues to send mixed signals, with some parameters up and some down and very few moving in only one direction for more than a month or two.
That's good because it is consistent with an economy that is gradually slowing from an unsustainable pace. Real GDP (the value of all production in the United States, corrected for inflation) grew at an annualized rate of only 2.75 percent in the third quarter of 2000, slightly more than half the rate of the first six months of the year. Personal expenditures for durable goods - such as autos and furniture, which are usually postponable and are, therefore, a good measure of consumer confidence - were particularly depressed in recent months.