Mr Paul Volcker former chairman of Federal Reserve sees the economy already is in a considerable recession, a view supported by 651 purchasing professionals polled this month by Purchasing magazine. Mr Volcker is chairman of the board of trustees of the group of 30, an international body composed of central bank governors, leading economists and private financial sector experts.

He said that "I have been around for a while. I have seen a lot of crises but I have never seen anything quite like this one. I do not think we can escape damage to the real economy even with global government efforts to revive money markets and stave off a global recession."

Meanwhile, the buyers answering the monthly survey report an industrial activity reading of 35.6, the fifth consecutive month that the index was below the 50 reading needed for business expansion. This also is the lowest reading since the 33 of November 2001, when the economy was at the end of its last official recession.

For the fifth month in a row, business activity is in a slump say buyers at electronic consuming companies, 35.6 in the October index, metal using firms and chemicals-consuming companies. Metal consuming buyers have the weakest buying plans index this month, dropping 6.7 points from the previous month to a 35.4 index reading. There is a 37.9 planning index for chemical using firms, down a dramatic 12.5 points from September.

The electronics buying index of 40.6 is 11.4 points weaker than September. Looking at 17 major product areas, none are expected to increase in the near future with the strongest, energy, recording an index reading of 45.6. That meshes with national news reports that oil and gas purchasing is declining at retail, commercial and industrial levels.