Also, big inventories remained in pipelines and storage tanks this fall after one of the warmest winters of the century last year.

Even with the slowdown, there remains a huge inventory of unoccupied buildings, analysts said.

As a lingering result, large inventories of nuclear weapons and facilities remain.

Ordinarily, the government does not track precisely how many doses have been given out or how much inventory remains.

But so far in this downturn, inventories have remained remarkably flat.

"But inventories remain in line with sales, and they are being adjusted constantly."

If buyback price covers all costs of the inventory plus related holding costs, the inventory remains on the seller's books.

They also reported that the deal had been well received and that only a small inventory remained.

She said that if inventories remained at these low levels in the spring, "then we are in trouble."

They said inventories of unsold 1987 models remained high and would mean further production cutbacks in August.