WHILE COMMODITY MARKETS CONTINUED TO TAKE A BEATING LAST YEAR, INDICATORS SUGGEST THAT THE WORST COULD-FINALLY-BE OVER.Armed with fresh data and keen hindsight, it's apparent that the U.S. manufacturing and scrap recycling sectors began their precipitous economic slide around midyear 2000. By virtually all measures-including industrial production in the second half of 2000, U.S. gross domestic product, scrap demand, and overall metal and paper consumption-it became painfully obvious that an economic downturn was imminent, marking the end of the U.S. economy's decade-long economic expansion as well as any remaining blue-sky optimism.
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