Pickup Ahead?

The Administration's economists who think that business is heading for an autumn pickup found considerable support last week for their views. Items:

P: Manufacturing inventories stood at $44.2 billion in July, down $2.2 billion from a year ago, thus paving the way for a faster production pace in many an industry (e.g., autos) as fall orders build up.

P: Unemployment benefit rolls were almost 500,000 below the 2,213,000 reported in February, the year's peak figure. The Commerce Department reported that average manufacturing-plant working hours were lengthening and that payrolls were no longer declining.

P: Residential construction activity in July was a good 10% above the high year-ago level.

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