But even a modest slowdown will put more pressure on the fledgling European Central Bank, with Wim Duisenberg as its president.

So far, though, there is no end in sight - and no evidence that China's long boom is likely to suffer anything more than a modest slowdown.

Listing factors that contributed to the new premium, Dr. McClellan reported "a modest slowdown in physician spending growth" but "very rapid growth in spending for hospital outpatient services."

Although the new Federal tax code dilutes the tax appeal of ambitious historic rehabilitations, most observers expect only a modest slowdown in the creative linking of older buildings.

That is because he, like many other analysts, predict only a modest slowdown in the global economy.

Yet the most recent data on industrial production and factory orders, which dropped sharply in Germany, have confirmed widespread expectations of a modest slowdown.

And even a modest additional slowdown in spending is likely to have significant repercussions for an economy that was already dependent on consumers simply to remain afloat.

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday suspended its two-year campaign of raising interest rates, a long-awaited policy shift based on the hope that a modest economic slowdown will subdue inflation without much pain.

Intel, which last month reported a modest slowdown in revenue growth and saw its share price cut in half, posted financial results after the market's close that were at the high end of its revised estimates.

Still, yesterday's reports, pointing to a modest slowdown in manufacturing and another showing a sharp decline in construction spending, reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates before July.