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Economy in Brief
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PMIs largely are improving in February...
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Chicago Business Barometer Declines Sharply in February
The ISM-Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell 4.3 points in February to 59.5...
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% |