This isn’t good for anyone, including our employers. I don’t know about you, but I’m already battening down the hatches - planning to take care of outstanding issues soon in case of layoffs. As I may have mentioned, I talk to presidents and CEOs as part of my job, and there’s palpable fear out there:

Credit flowing to American companies is drying up at a pace not seen in decades, threatening the creation of jobs and the expansion of businesses, while intensifying worries that the economy may be headed for recession.

The combined value of two leading sources of credit — outstanding commercial and industrial bank loans, and short-term loans known as commercial paper — peaked at about $3.3 trillion in August, according to data from the Federal Reserve. By mid-November, such credit was down to $3 trillion, a drop of nearly 9 percent.

Not once in the years since the Fed began tracking such numbers in 1973 has this artery of finance constricted so rapidly. Smaller declines preceded three recessions going back to 1975; at other times such declines tended to occur in conjunction with an economic downturn.

Policy makers at the Federal Reserve are growing increasingly alarmed about the problem, which is an outgrowth of the woes of the housing and mortgage industries. Just yesterday, the Fed’s vice chairman, Donald L. Kohn, said that the latest market turbulence appeared to be reducing credit to businesses and consumers, hinting that the central bank, in response, was prepared to cut interest rates further.

Mr. Kohn’s unexpected pledge that the Fed would pursue “flexible and pragmatic policy making” that might help counter the trend and shore up the economy spurred a rally on Wall Street that sent stocks soaring. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 331 points, to 13,289.45, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 2.86 percent, to 1,469.02.

For now, though, the situation is looking bleaker for many businesses. Already, companies in everything from furniture manufacturing to Web site design are tightening their belts, delaying expansion and scrambling for other sources of cash.