The latest on the "progress" in Iraq

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"Until you can walk across the street without ducking, it will be hard to get the economy back," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York.

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"There is an underlying instability and lack of safety which really puts everything at risk," said Rick Barton, an Iraq expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

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The International Monetary Fund in August said it was slashing its 2005 growth forecast for Iraq to 3.7 percent, down from an earlier estimate of 16.7 percent because "the continuing sabotage of oil installations" had resulted in a shortfall in oil revenues. IMF predicted growth of nearly 17 percent in 2006.

Iraq's unemployment rate is estimated to be between 27 percent and 40 percent. By comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate during the Great Depression peaked at around 25 percent.




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051208/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_iraq_3;_ylt=Aqn9GXL0aJM2YLKiRQjhWEZqP0AC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl