The overall economy is likely to get worse before it gets better, says a consensus of analyst opinion.

However, fiscal actions already taken could lead to a strong rebound. If economists responding to a poll released Wednesday by Washington, D.C.-based Blue Chip Economic Indicators are right, the technology sector is in for more of the dismal times that have been haunting it for the past year. The highly respected monthly survey of economists showed that the country was already in a recession before the September 11th terrorist attacks, and that things have grown progressively worse since then. High-tech manufacturing companies' performance has already dropped to recession-like levels, which means that most of the damage to production and jobs in the sector has already happened. Other parts of the economy will begin to experience what tech companies have had to live with for nearly a year, the economists said. "In the short term," the poll said, "mounting layoffs, rising job insecurity and weakening wage and salary gains will dampen consumer demand. Corporate earnings will remain weak, prolonging the collapse in business investment." If there is a silver lining to the Blue Chip survey, it is that the aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus that could lead to a vigorous rebound next year. The poll warned, however, that the forecast could be subject to a number of risks.