For many workers, this year's modest rise in pay might only end up covering the sharply higher price tag for health coverage charged by HMOs. Like the falling domino theory, once-bullish corporations are lining up to confess slowing quarterly sales and warn that 2001 won't be the financial juggernaut we've all come dangerously close to embracing as the new norm. No, the sky isn't falling. Not by a long shot. But carry an umbrella . . .
Inflation remains low, though prices for gasoline and natural gas skyrocketed.
Interest rates are higher than 12 months ago, though they remain historically low. And they are likely to be driven lower next year by the Federal Reserve if the economy sputters. Large manufacturing companies especially worry about slower consumer spending. Merger partners Chase Manhattan and J.P. Morgan also plan to cut thousands. Locally, hundreds of workers at the former Florida Progress will be pink-slipped next month.