The 6-1 senior guard hit 45 percent of his 3-pointers last season.

New Jersey hit only 41 percent, including 4 of 16 in the second quarter, when they were held to 13 points.

But someone who hits only 33 1/3 percent of his 3-point shots is exactly as good.

Its recent high was in 1993, after a decade of growing deficits, when it hit 50 percent.

The last time rates jumped to such levels was in June 1991, when they hit 12.8 percent.

He predicts that it will hit 10.4 percent in 2009.

The city economy has clearly cooled since fall, however, when its job growth rate hit 2.9 percent.

But he added, "I think once you hit 5 or 6 percent of the population, you're really in trouble."

The nation's unemployment rate hit 7.3 percent last month, the highest in six and a half years.

But that figure is expected to hit 3 percent by the year 2050.