Avatar Associates suggests we are starting to see another typical development in the phases of economic expansion: firming sales volume. "More than half of the companies reporting so far have recorded sales revenues in excess of what analysts had forecast. In the prior quarter that same number was about a third of companies and before that less than a quarter. These results come at a time when job growth seems to be rising into a high enough level to suggest that the overall business cycle is now in a self-sustaining expansion."