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Wholesale Inventories down 0.4% in October
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The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that October 2016 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $452.2 billion, up 1.4 percent (+/-0.7%) from the revised September level and were up 2.2 percent (+/-0.9%) from the October 2015 level. The August 2016 to September 2016 percent change was revised from the preliminary estimate of up 0.2 percent (+/-0.4%) to up 0.4 percent (+/-0.4%). October sales of durable goods were up 1.1 percent (+/-0.7%) from last month and were up 2.5 percent (+/-1.4%) from a year ago. Sales of electrical and electronic goods were up 2.2 percent from last month and sales of metals and minerals, except petroleum were up 2.0 percent. Sales of nondurable goods were up 1.6 percent (+/-0.9%) from September and were up 1.9 percent (+/-1.4%) from last October. Sales of farm product raw materials were up 8.3 percent from last month and sales of petroleum and petroleum products were up 6.6 percent.
Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were $587.7 billion at the end of October, down 0.4 percent (+/-0.4%) from the revised September level. Total inventories are down 0.4 percent (+/-1.2%) from the revised October 2015 level. The September 2016 to October 2016 percent change was unrevised from the advance estimate of down 0.4 percent (+/-0.4%). October inventories of durable goods were down 0.3 percent (+/-0.4%) from last month and were down 2.2 percent (+/-1.4%) from a year ago. Inventories of metals and minerals, except petroleum were down 1.0 percent from last month, while inventories of furniture and home furnishings were up 1.6 percent. Inventories of nondurable goods were down 0.4 percent (+/-0.7%) from September, but were up 2.5 percent (+/-2.1%) from last October. Inventories of drugs and druggists' sundries were down 3.2 percent from last month, while inventories of petroleum and petroleum products were up 1.9 percent.
The October inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.30. The October 2015 ratio was 1.33.
Posted: December 9, 2016 Friday 10:00 AM