Greenspan, delivering the central bank’s twice-a-year economic report card to Congress, offered a fairly upbeat assessment and expressed hope companies would step up hiring. Hiring has been painfully slow and has become a political sore spot for President Bush.
Against that backdrop, Greenspan reaffirmed the Fed’s stance that it would be patient in considering possible increases in short-term interest rates, which now are at a 45-year low of 1 percent. The comment pleased Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials jumped 123.85 points to close at 10,737.70 — the highest level in more than 2



