And indeed, inventory investment did drop down a good bit in the second quarter, contributing importantly to that quarter’s more modest GDP growth. Still, most analysts believe that the rate of stockbuilding -at least outside the motor vehicle sector -- probably remained unsustainable and can be expected to slow further.
A second reason forecasters have expected a slowdown is that the impetus to consumer spending from annual gains of 25 to 30 percent in share values seemed unlikely to be sustained.