Economy: Sept. 21, 2001
The consumer price index—a measure of inflation at the consumer level—-rose a slight 0.1 percent in August, according to the Department of Labor...The Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates a half percentage point to 3.0 percent on Sept. 15 in the hope of bolstering both the economy and consumer confidence in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.; the Fed also reduced the discount rate from 3.0 percent to 2.5 percent; this marks the eighth interest-rate cut this year; the interest-rate cuts did not help stave off a sell-off of airline and tech stocks as the stock market reopened after a four-day closure; the Dow Jones industrial average fell 684.81 points to 8,920.70, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.8 percent, to 1,579.55, on Sept. 15...Inventories fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in July, according to the Department of Commerce, although analysts noted that excess inventory may begin rising again following the recent terrorist attacks.
