21.   Although the Bank of England had been expected to lower rates, the size of the reduction surprised many economists.

22.   Although a cut had been expected, the size of the reduction surprised many economists.

23.   The December strength surprised economists tho had been forecasting a decline.

24.   The numbers surprised economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, who had predicted a slight increase.

25.   The slowdown in export growth did not surprise economists.

26.   The rise in unemployment surprised economists.

27.   In October, Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke surprised economists here by raising interest rates by one quarter of a percentage point to six percent.

28.   Economists were surprised by the figures after predicting that unemployment would fall only very slowly.

29.   Nonetheless, the data surprised City economists, who have been expecting the claimant count to continue rising because of the economic slowdown.

30.   The increase, albeit modest, surprised economists who had been expecting another decline.