It is not clear how much of the weakness in industrial production represents a real weakening of demand and how much reflects inventory issues.
The stronger-than-expected import data may also reflect inventory buildups as Chinese importers took advantage of price swings to stock up on crude oil, copper and other commodities, analysts said.
Uranium, for use in nuclear power stations, is also still in demand.In other raw-material markets, the recent weakness reflects inventory corrections: aluminium consumption, for example, has dropped partly because carmakers have run down their stocks.
The third-quarter G.D.P. revision in part reflected slower inventory growth.
Neuroticism is even reflected in inventories designed for clinical psychological use, such as the recently developed "Demoralization" scale on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2.
Moreover, given continuing malaise in credit and housing markets, private consumption will remain subdued; indeed, two percentage points of the 2.8% expansion in the last quarter of 2011 reflected rising inventories rather than final sales.
For October, the 0.7 percent rise in total inventories reflected a 0.9 percent increase in inventories held by manufacturers and a 1.9 percent rise in inventories held by wholesalers.
In July, Microsoft announced that it was taking a $900 million write-down to reflect unsold inventory of the Surface RT tablet.
Microsoft also acknowledged the disappointing sales of one of its most prominent products, its Surface RT tablet computer, by taking a $900 million charge to reflect unsold inventory of the device.
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