Taking the other view, some Wall Street economists said that retailers might cut back their orders sharply until the inventory backlogs were cleared.

They cope with this inventory backlog by quickly scaling back production, producing layoffs and reduced business for their suppliers and distributors.

The stock market's big losses last week occurred after months of corporate profit warnings and layoff announcements, complemented by economic reports detailing slowed production and rising inventory backlogs.

It also indicated that its customers' inventory backlog was clearing up, suggesting recovery is in sight.

This creates an inventory backlog that infuriates homeowners and decorators alike.

For the first time in its 70-year history, the company granted a vacation to all of its factory workers in February and suspended production for three weeks to reduce an inventory backlog.

Kodak has suspended production of Disc cameras, citing inventory backlogs.

For many economists, the unusually small inventory backlog in this recession justifies optimism that the upturn can come quickly - if people would only be willing to buy again.

The inventory backlog suggests that not everyone will pay $12,250 and up (Richard Meier's sterling-heavy version costs $62,800) for caffeine dispensers.

With the inventory backlog of single-family houses, new rental and for-sale communities are increasingly being built in clusters.