STATE OF BUSINESS: From Peak to Peak

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Result of another week's trading on the big bull market: another alltime high. The Dow-Jones industrial average rose to 397.15 at week's end, up 2.21 points from the week before. It was the fifth consecutive week in which the average had set a new record.

In general, stockbrokers, businessmen and government officials agreed that the main reason for the steady climb was the fact that business was getting better all the time. Labor Secretary James Mitchell reported last week that new claims for unemployment compensation in the third week in December had fallen to 301,700, almost 11,000 below the week before. Last minute Christmas buying boosted department-store sales a full 3% ahead of the corresponding week in 1953. And the Federal Reserve Board industrial-production index for November rose to 129, (1947-49=100), showing an unusual upturn at a season when industrial production normally dips.