A separate report showed sales of previously owned homes rose to the second-highest level on record in March.

"Severe" is the second-highest level, but the Web site did not say what kind of attack was thought likely.

Law enforcement authorities in several large cities increased security yesterday as the Bush administration put the nation on its second-highest alert level.

It was the second-highest level this year and the biggest rise since March 1994, as imports rose 19 percent.

The nation's trade deficit jumped in July to $9.33 billion, the second-highest monthly level this year.

Division I is the second-highest level of play in the tournament.

That is the second-highest level ever, after ratios seen in the fall of 1999.

Oil prices rose further yesterday, and now stand at their second-highest level since the Iraqi invasion.

And initial claims for unemployment benefits last week hit their second-highest level in more than nine years.

Another sign of strength came from factory orders: they rose 2.4 percent in November to their second-highest level ever.