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Economy in Brief
Chicago Fed National Activity Index Improves in April
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) rose to 0.47 during April...
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Germany's IFO index has rebounded on the month...
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Of these 13 readings eight of them declined on the month in May three of them improved and two of them were unchanged...
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The combination of soaring home prices across the nation and rising interest rates is making homes less affordable...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Profits & Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
by Tom Moeller July 16, 2012
The U.S. Commerce Department reported that during May, business inventories rose 0.3% for the third consecutive month. The modest gain lowered the y/y rise to 5.2%, its least since May of 2010. Business sales slipped 0.1% for the second consecutive month and the y/y increase fell to 5.1%, its least since December 2009. As a result, the inventory/sales ratio ticked up to 1.27, its highest in a year.
Retail sector inventories rose 1.0% due to a strong 1.9% rise (14.6% y/y) in motor vehicles. Inventories of home furnishings & appliances rose 0.8% (0.6% y/y). General merchandise inventories increased 0.9% (3.4% y/y) and apparel inventories gained 0.6% (4.8% y/y). Wholesale inventories increased 0.3% (6.4% y/y) while petroleum inventories fell 3.6% (-4.3% y/y). Less petroleum wholesale inventories rose 0.5% (7.1% y/y). Factory inventories fell 0.2% (+3.5% y/y).
The manufacturing and trade data are in Haver's USECON database.
| Business Inventories(%) | May | Apr | Mar | May Y/Y | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 5.2 | 7.7 | 8.3 | -9.4 |
| Retail | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 6.3 | 3.6 | 6.1 | -10.1 |
| Retail excl. Motor Vehicles | 0.6 | 0.2 | -0.0 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 3.9 | -4.8 |
| Merchant Wholesalers | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 6.4 | 9.9 | 10.1 | -11.8 |
| Manufacturing | -0.2 | -0.2 | 0.1 | 3.5 | 9.4 | 8.8 | -6.8 |
| Business Sales (%) | |||||||
| Total | -0.1 | -0.1 | 0.2 | 5.1 | 11.3 | 9.7 | -14.8 |
| Retail | -0.2 | -0.6 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 8.2 | 5.8 | -7.9 |
| Retail excl. Motor Vehicles | -0.4 | -0.7 | -0.4 | 3.6 | 7.6 | 4.7 | -6.4 |
| Merchant Wholesalers | -0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 5.7 | 13.5 | 11.6 | -16.2 |
| Manufacturing | 0.5 | -0.2 | 0.1 | 4.9 | 11.8 | 11.2 | -18.8 |
| I/S Ratio | |||||||
| Total | 1.27 | 1.26 | 1.26 | 1.27 | 1.26 | 1.27 | 1.39 |
| Retail | 1.36 | 1.35 | 1.33 | 1.34 | 1.34 | 1.38 | 1.46 |
| Retail Excl. Motor Vehicles | 1.20 | 1.19 | 1.18 | 1.21 | 1.21 | 1.24 | 1.30 |
| Merchant Wholesalers | 1.18 | 1.17 | 1.17 | 1.17 | 1.16 | 1.18 | 1.31 |
| Manufacturing | 1.27 | 1.28 | 1.28 | 1.29 | 1.27 | 1.28 | 1.39 |
