NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) March 11, 2002—Standard&Poor's today assigned its single-'A' rating to New York City's $500 million GO bonds fiscal 2002 series C due Sept. 15, 2032. The bonds are scheduled to sell March 12, 2002. The outlook is stable. At the same time, Standard&Poor's assigned its single-'A' rating and underlying rating (SPUR) to the city's outstanding GO debt. The rating reflects the following: -- The city's substantial and highly diverse economic base, which has weakened substantially in the past year as a result of the recession and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Job loss is now forecast to be as high as 125,100 from January 2001-January 2002, and the unemployment rate has increased
