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Economy in Brief
U.S. New Home Sales Almost Unchanged Since August
New single-family home sales around the country changed very little in October and also in September...
U.S. Q3 Growth GDP Unrevised at 33.1%; Corporate Profits Rebound
The second estimate of Q3 U.S. real GDP indicated that economic activity rose an unrevised 33.1% q/q...
U.S. Durable Goods Orders Rise Further in October
Manufacturers’ orders for durable goods increased 1.3% m/m (-0.3% y/y) in October...
U.S. Goods Trade Deficit Deepens During October
The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods deepened to $80.29 billion during October...
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise for a Second Week
Initial claims for regular state unemployment insurance rose again this past week ending November 21 to 778,000...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller May 13, 2005
Total business inventories rose 0.4% in March and the y/y rate of inventory accumulation continued strong at 7.9%. The ratio of inventories-to-sales fell slightly, however, and returned to the record low average of last year.
Retail inventories rose 0.3% in March and also gained 0.3% excluding autos. Inventories of furniture & electronics increased 0.6% (6.2% y/y) following two months of decline and general merchandise doubled the prior month's increase with a 1.0% surge (6.6% y/y). Apparel inventories rose 0.5% (4.3% y/y).
Factory sector inventories grew 0.6% for the second month and the 8.9% increase versus last year remained the strongest since 1989.
Wholesale inventory accumulation moderated to 0.4%. During the last ten years there has been a 64% correlation between the y/y change in wholesale inventories and the change in imports of merchandise.
Overall business sales recovered 0.7% (6.7% y/y) after the 0.5% decline in February.
| Business Inventories | March | Feb | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.4% | 0.5% | 7.9% | 7.7% | 1.4% | 1.6% |
| Retail | 0.3% | 0.4% | 4.8% | 5.7% | 3.9% | 5.9% |
| Retail excl. Autos | 0.3% | 0.5% | 6.5% | 5.9% | 2.0% | 2.3% |
| Wholesale | 0.4% | 0.6% | 10.8% | 10.8% | 2.0% | 1.2% |
| Manufacturing | 0.6% | 0.6% | 8.9% | 7.5% | -1.3% | -1.8% |
