NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) May 21, 2002--Standard&Poor's today assigned its single-'A' rating to New York City's $1 billion GO bonds fiscal 2002 series E, F, and G, and $500 million GO bonds fiscal 2002 series D. The bonds are expected to price today. Standard&Poor's also affirmed its single-'A' and single-'A' underlying rating on the city's GO debt outstanding. "The city has a substantial and highly diverse economic base, despite the decline in the past year resulting from the national recession and the events of Sept. 11," said credit analyst Robin Prunty. The city lost nearly 73,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2001. The unemployment rate increased to 7.5% in January 2002 from 5.7% in
