to-sales ratio -- a measure of the number of months it would take to deplete stocks at the current sales pace -- to a record low 1.29. "This reinforces our view that firms have gotten to an inventory stance that is sufficiently lean," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital. He said businesses now would let inventories rise in step with sales, adding substantially to economic growth. Separately, the Labor Department said the ranks of Americans filing initial claims for state unemployment benefits thinned by 6,000 last week to 308,000. The drop, which defied Wall Street expectations for a rise to 315,OOO, brought a four-week moving average of claims -- a closely watched barometer of the pace of layoffs -- down to 309,250, its lowest level since late February.
