B 8 "ÛÏÛ¢^""Û÷Business & finance  
The nationÛªs unemployment rate edged down in November to 5.8 percent of the work force, indicating the economy may be somewhat stronger than expected despite widespread forecasts of a recession, the government reported yesterday.</br></br>Although the drop, from a 6 percent rate the previous month, came as a surprise to some analysts, it did not alter predictions that the nation is heading into a slump. Other major statistics have shown the economy is slowing.</br></br>However, the failure of the jobless rate to rise was expected to stiffen the reluctance of the Carter administration to propose an anti-recession tax cut as part of the fiscal 1981 budget it will send Congress in January.</br></br>President Carter is scheduled to make a final decision on the tax-cut issue within another two or three weeks, before the budget goes to press. YesterdayÛªs jobless figures were the last to be published before that date.</br></br>The statistics came as, separately, several major New York banks cut their prime lending rates again yesterday, reducing the prime to 15Vi per-