· Factory
inventories in October rose 0.6% following an upwardly revised 0.1% up
tick in September. Less petroleum, the 0.4% (3.9% y/y) rise in factory
inventories was the strongest since February.
· The October inventory gain was led by a 11.4% rise in motor vehicles but additionally reflected a 0.4% (4.1% y/y) increase in electrical equipment and a 0.5% (-1.1% y/y) rise in computers & electronic products. Nondurables inventories rose 0.9% (4.9% y/y) and less petroleum, the 0.5% (+2.7% y/y) rise in nondurable inventories was the first in four months.
· Factory shipments recovered 1.0%
and factory sector orders surged 2.2%. The advance report of a 3.4% jump
in durables goods orders was revised to 3.7%.
· Unfilled orders
jumped 1.6% and pulled the year to year gain to a near record 12.1%.
Less the transportation sector backlogs continued strong and surged 1.1%
(9.8% y/y) while the ratio of total unfilled orders to shipments rose
further to the highest level since 2002.