DESERT STORM: DAY 16 : Financial

The New York stock market was mixed in an erratic session today.

The unemployment rate jumped to a 3 1/2-year high of 6.2% in January, the government said, prompting the Federal Reserve to cut its key discount lending rate and dampening hopes that the recession would be short. Shortly after the Fed’s move, several big banks lowered their prime rate by half a percentage point to 9%.