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Economy in Brief
German PPI Accelerates
The German year-on-year PPI has generally been decelerating since early 2017...
U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Signal Continued Expansion
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.3% during March...
Philadelphia Fed Factory Conditions Improve; Prices Jump
The Philadelphia Fed reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index rose to 23.2 during April...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Are Little Changed
Initial unemployment insurance claims slipped to 232,000 (-6.1% y/y) during the week ended April 14...
U.K. Retail Sales Fall
U.K. GDP is expected to cool its jets when the first quarter GDP number is released...
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 |
