While November far exceeded our expectations, December collections are more consistent with projections. As such, we are in line with the economic assumptions and revenue collections assumed in your budget amendments submitted on December 20, 2000. As expected, December's receipts were 11.1 percent less than December last year mainly due to two fewer deposit days and a few extraordinary large individual estimated payments received last December. Notwithstanding the above-mentioned temporal factors, sales tax receipts, and corporate income tax estimated payments showed some weakness. We await the main holiday shopping receipts and individual income tax estimated payments due in January.
National indicators show that the economy has cooled considerably over the last month.
The Federal Reserve's surprise fifty basis point cut on January 3 suggests that the Fed is postured to preempt an excessive slowdown in economic growth. The nation's payrolls grew by a moderate 105,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate remained at 4.0 percent. The manufacturing sector is feeling the brunt of the slowdown. Employment in the goods-producing industries fell by 78,000 in December and the NAPM index fell to 43.7 percent, a level consistent with zero growth in the aggregate economy. The Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell 0.2 percent in November, the fifth decline in the past six months.