Overview

America's labour market generated more than its share of bad news this week. Unemployment rose in April, for the second month in a row, to 4.5%—the highest since October 1998. For the first time in six years, workers' productivity actually fell in the first quarter, at an annual rate of 0.1%, after an average growth rate of 4.3% in 2000. These figures were far worse than the markets had expected. Investors were also disappointed when Cisco, a maker of Internet equipment, reported a net loss for the third quarter. The Nasdaq Composite dipped by 2.9% during the week, but the Dow Jones was buffered by an optimistic long-term outlook from General Electric. The dollar rose by 0.5% in trade-weighted terms.