Business inventories resumed their slow growth in January after a one-month decline, the Government reported.

Private and Government economists, however, warned that too much should not be read into a one-month decline in the leading indicators.

In fact, in August, these high-yield bonds suffered their worst one-month decline on record, although there was no evidence of panic-selling.

The one-month decline means the eventual resolution of the institution's case would rival, if not surpass, the bank board's costliest bailout.

A report that new factory orders in February posted their largest one-month decline since 1974 had no impact on the credit markets.

It was the biggest one-month decline in sales since the Government began the current series of data in 1967.

It was the largest one-month decline since a 1.4 percent plunge last August.

In other categories, orders for machinery fell 14.8 percent in January, to $29 billion, the largest one-month decline since record-keeping on durable goods began in 1958.

The reported loss was the largest one-month decline since February 1991.

The April job loss was the largest one-month decline since February 1991, when the nation was in the last recession.