Meanwhile, the inventory of homes on the market has dropped, as it often does when sales are strong.

The decision to keep the cuts in place comes at a time when inventories have been dropping and demand continues to be strong.

At the same time, retail inventories dropped 1.4 percent after falling 1.2 percent in February.

Industry analysts worried that IH would begin to lose market share as its inventories dropped.

But even though inventories have dropped, the economy has not yet bounced back.

The department said that inventories held on shelves and in backlots dropped to $587.17 billion in December, after adjusting for normal seasonal variations.

It showed that inventories dropped 2.49 million barrels last week, to 308.97 million, a bigger drop than expected, according to Bloomberg News.

In 1996, inventory dropped to 7,568, which was 13 percent less than the 8,657 in 1995.

The six-week inventory of 1,886 kilograms maintained by the four largest companies in 1996 dropped to four weeks last year.

In the next period, firms cut production so that inventory will drop to their desired levels, which results in even lower GDP.