Recent Updates
- US: FHFA HPI (Nov)
- Canada: CPI (Dec), Wholesale Trade (Nov)
- Canada Regional: CPI by Province (Dec), Wholesale Trade by Province (Nov)
- North Macedonia: Retal Survey (Q4), Wages (Nov)
- Iceland: Loans to Households & NFCs (Dec)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Chicago Fed National Activity Index Points to Below Trend Growth in Q4
Activity index declines to -0.35 in December...
U.S. FHFA House Price Index Increases Moderately
The FHFA Price Index increased 0.2% during November following a 0.4% October gain...
U.S. Mortgage Applications Ease after Prior Week's Surge
The MBA Mortgage Loan Index decreased 1.2% in the January 17 week...
U.S. Energy Prices Decline Again
Retail gasoline prices fell to $2.54 per gallon (+12.7% y/y) in the week ended January 20...
Philadelphia Fed Nonmanufacturing Business Activity Recovers
The Philadelphia Fed reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current general activity at the company level rebounded to 23.5 during January...
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 |
