Business Notes THE ECONOMY

The U.S. economy's strength is confounding the pessimists. Though many analysts expected the October stock-market crash to bring economic growth to a halt, the Government said last week that during the final three months of 1987, the U.S. economy expanded at a robust 4.2% annual rate. The surge was propelled in part by the falling dollar, which enabled American manufacturers to sell more goods overseas. The volume of exports grew 20% during 1987, while import growth slackened to less than 6%.

Yet hints of a slowdown could be found among last week's statistics. Most ominous was the rapid growth of stockpiled products held by manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. The glut of goods was the result, in part, of a slowdown in consumer spending.