However, economic activity appears to have downshifted further in the wake of the deterioration in financial conditions in September. Employment losses, which had been averaging about 100,000 per month for much of the year, accelerated to more than 250,000 per month, on average, in September and October, and the unemployment rate jumped to 6.5 percent in October.
But before I explain in detail the determinants of our balance sheet and profit and loss account together with Mr Thiele, I would like to talk about monetary policy in the light of the economic setting and about the international economic system.