Business: Business digest

BUSINESS UNBOWED: Seventy percent of midsize companies say September's terrorist attacks have had no significant negative impact on business. Even larger percentages of 400 executives polled by accounting company Grant Thornton and Wirthlin Worldwide are optimistic for the coming year. "Their determination is reflective of America's resolve to not allow terrorism to weaken our economy, nor dim our view of tomorrow," said John Desmond of Grant Thornton.

ANOTHER VIEW: About 20 percent of 756 companies surveyed by Yellowpages.com Inc. of San Francisco say workplace productivity has dropped since Sept. 11.

HEY, THAT'S OUR NAME: When Philip Morris said it was changing its name to Altria to show it's not just a tobacco company, Warren Smedley was stunned. The CEO and president of Altria Healthcare Corp. in Birmingham, Ala., doesn't want to be identified with a corporation long associated with smoking. Attorneys are on the case. Philip Morris had no comment.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Hoping better fortunes are in its stars, Yahoo plans to sell astrology services. The Internet-search company is looking for alternative revenue sources to counter a drop in advertising. "It's kind of silly, but believe it or not people like astrology online," said Paul Kim, a media analyst at Kaufman Bros.

LOOK WHO'S ONLINE: The Internet has become fully integrated into mainstream America, a recent poll indicates. Five years ago, the average Internet user was young, relatively wealthy and predominantly male. Today, users reflect the gender division of the U.S. population, and twice as many people over 50 are online, according to market research company InsightExpress.

17.7 PERCENT: The nation's work force in 2000 included that share of office and administrative support jobs, such as secretaries and clerks, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

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