21.   Both Medpartners, which has been a recent favorite of investors, and Caremark have been buying doctor groups at a rapid rate.

22.   A slowdown could lead businesses to add workers at a less rapid rate.

23.   A survey of manufacturing executives showed that that sector was still shrinking in January, but no longer at the rapid rate of last year.

24.   Across the country, Hispanic people are starting their own businesses at rapid rates and joining the middle class in increasing numbers.

25.   But as Magellan grew, its size made it harder to maneuver in a stock market whose winds shifted at an increasingly rapid rate.

26.   But cable has been upgrading to digital at an increasingly rapid rate in recent years.

27.   But he also noted that spending is growing at a rapid rate, largely because of salary increases for city workers negotiated four years ago.

28.   But some of the plans have been losing members, and the number of plans has been declining at a rapid rate.

29.   But while the population is growing at a rapid rate, economic growth is still hovering around zero.

30.   Despite its rapid rate of growth in the relatively mature market of MasterCard and Visa bankcards, MBNA has kept its loan losses well below the industry average.