Production Easy: TIME'S index eased to 157.9 (estimated) in the Sept. 27 week, lowest since mid-July and 0.5 point under the preceding week's final figure. Main reason for the latest decline: a contra-seasonal drop in power output,caused by cool weather (less refrigerator load) and non-defense factory shutdowns.

Many types of goods are showing signs of being overbought. Steel orders (though still ahead of output) are running 35% to 40% below August, will probably slip further. Furniture manufacturers last month accepted 29% less business than in July, largely because they could not have filled the orders anyway. But such declines are not typical. Most basic industries have record backlogs, could operate for months without booking a single new order.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.