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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 July 15, 2005
Total business inventories rose just 0.1% in May following a downwardly revised 0.2% gain in April. The three month change in inventories dropped to 3.3% (AR) versus the 12.1% peak rate of accumulation through last August. The ratio of inventories-to-sales held at the record low of 1.30.
Retail inventories rose 0.2% in May and the three month change remained low at 2.1% versus the peak of 12.4% last April. Excluding autos, however, retail inventories jumped 0.6% due to a 1.5% (7.1% y/y) surge in furniture.
Factory sector inventories were unchanged for the second month and three month growth fell to 2.7%.
Wholesale inventories rose just 0.1% and three month growth fell to 5.7%. 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 fell 0.1% (+6.9% y/y) following the 12.2% jump during April.
| Business Inventories | May | April | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.1% | 0.2% | 7.0% | 7.7% | 1.4% | 1.6% |
| Retail | 0.2% | 0.1% | 3.7% | 5.7% | 3.9% | 5.9% |
| Retail excl. Autos | 0.6% | 0.2% | 6.1% | 5.9% | 2.0% | 2.3% |
| Wholesale | 0.1% | 0.7% | 10.4% | 10.8% | 2.0% | 1.2% |
| Manufacturing | 0.0% | -0.0% | 7.7% | 7.5% | -1.3% | -1.8% |
