(FORTUNE Magazine) – While scrolling through Bureau of Labor Statistics data (don't ask!), we discovered the U.S. has apparently just survived a manicure bubble! "There was some fallout from the economy," explains Nancy King of the International Nail Technicians Association. She also points to a decline in demand after a CDC report last October implied hospital workers should stop wearing artificial nails (turns out they meant only ICU or transplant workers). Labor Department economist Michael Strople has a more banal explanation: Since this is a new category, anything before March 2002 is a "reconstructed history," hence the seemingly wild swings of late. Guess this is one trend we just couldn't nail. --Kimberly L. Allers