Recent Updates
- US: New Res Sales (Mar), S&P Case Shiller Home Price Indexes, FHFA HPI (Feb), Final Building Permits (Mar)
- US: Steel Imports (Mar-Prelim)
- US: Richmond Fed Mfg & Service Sector Surveys (Apr)
- US: Consumer Confidence (Apr)
- Belgium: Business Confidence (Apr)
- US: Regional Building Permits (Mar and YTD)
- Ireland: Bank Lending Survey (Q2)
- France: BdF Bank Lending Survey (Q2)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. FHFA House Price Index Continues to Strengthen
The FHFA index of U.S. house prices rose 0.6% during February...
U.S. Energy Prices Rise Further
Retail gasoline prices increased to $2.80 per gallon last week (14.3% y/y)...
U.S. Existing Home Sales & Prices Rise Again
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes increased 1.1% during March (-1.2% y/y) to 5.600 million units (AR)...
PMIs Stabilize or Creep Higher After Drop-Off
In the EMU, both the services and manufacturing sectors took a substantial step down one month ago...
FIBER: Industrial Commodity Prices Strengthen Selectively
The FIBER Industrial Materials Price Index increased 0.4% during the last four weeks...
by Tom Moeller January 12, 2012
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that business inventories rose 0.3% during November following a 0.8% rise in October. Business sales also rose 0.3%. As a result, the inventory/sales ratio held at 1.27 for the fourth straight month. For November, inventories were 8.5% higher than one year earlier, and sales were up 9.6%.
In the retail sector, inventories rose 0.3% m/m after an upwardly revised 0.2% October gain. Motor vehicle & parts inventories increased a moderate 0.6% (3.3% y/y) while excluding autos inventories gained 0.2% (4.2% y/y). Inventories of building materials fell 0.4% (+1.8% y/y) and food & beverage store inventories ticked up 0.1% (5.6% y/y). Apparel inventories also rose 0.3% (10.8% y/y), furniture & equipment rose 0.2% (-2.4% y/y) and no change (3.8% y/y) at general merchandise stores. Wholesale inventories ticked up 0.1% led by a 1.5% rise (16.4% y/y) in petroleum. Less petroleum wholesale inventories also rose 0.1% (10.2% y/y). Factory inventories rose a firm 0.5% (10.9% y/y).
The manufacturing and trade data are in Haver's USECON database. Note that in a value-added feature, the database includes series calculated by Haver database managers showing sales, inventories and I/S ratios for total business less motor vehicle dealers and related wholesale operations.
Business Inventories (%) | Nov | Oct | Sept | Nov Y/Y | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 8.5 | 8.6 | -9.3 | -1.2 |
Retail | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 6.8 | -7.8 | -1.6 |
Retail excl. Motor Vehicles | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 4.2 | 3.7 | -4.7 | -3.0 |
Merchant Wholesalers | 0.1 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 10.5 | 11.0 | -11.8 | 3.7 |
Manufacturing | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 10.9 | 8.7 | -6.8 | -4.1 |
Business Sales (%) | |||||||
Total | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 9.6 | 9.3 | -14.6 | 2.3 |
Retail | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 7.0 | 6.8 | -7.8 | -1.6 |
Retail excl. Motor Vehicles | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 6.7 | 6.1 | -6.3 | 2.1 |
Merchant Wholesalers | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 11.3 | 12.6 | -16.1 | 5.9 |
Manufacturing | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 10.2 | 8.6 | -18.5 | 2.3 |
I/S Ratio | |||||||
Total | 1.27 | 1.27 | 1.27 | 1.28 | 1.28 | 1.39 | 1.32 |
Retail | 1.32 | 1.32 | 1.32 | 1.36 | 1.37 | 1.46 | 1.51 |
Retail Excl. Motor Vehicles | 1.18 | 1.18 | 1.18 | 1.21 | 1.23 | 1.30 | 1.29 |
Merchant Wholesalers | 1.15 | 1.15 | 1.15 | 1.16 | 1.16 | 1.30 | 1.21 |
Manufacturing | 1.34 | 1.33 | 1.33 | 1.33 | 1.33 | 1.41 | 1.27 |