Describing changes and trends

upward movement / increase / rise	downward movement / decrease / fall
an end to movement / level off at ...	no change / remain steady
peak at a certain point / rise then fall to ...

• Sales rose / increased / went up by 15% in 2007.
• The inflation rate went down / dropped / fell by 2%.
• Our profits have been on the decrease.
• The year of 2008 witnessed a 15% decline in our company output.
• Our inventory flattened out / leveled off at 4,000 units.
• Exports remained stable.
• We hope to maintain / keep / hold the current trend of high growth rate.
• Profit reached a peak of $3.2 million in July.
• Our profit growth rate hit its lowest level since 1986.

Describing degree and speed of changes

big change	small change
rapid change	slow change

• A sharp increase in oil price led to a considerable drop in profits.
• Our production rocketed.
• Production has fallen / dropped slightly lately.
• There was a considerable drop / decrease of 40% in export volume last year.
• Sales dropped considerably.
• Profits rose slightly by 5%.
• Export went up rapidly / sharply.
• Production had dropped slowly.
• We've seen a fast economic recovery.
• There is a steady increase in our domestic market share.
• There will be a small cut in the training budget this year.