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- US: Consumer Prices (Mar)
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Economy in Brief
FIBER: Industrial Commodity Prices Improve Modestly
The FIBER Industrial Materials Price Index increased 0.9% during the four weeks ended April 9...
EMU Retail Sales Jump, Regaining Some of the January Drop
February finds EU retail sales and motor vehicle registration rebounding...
U.S. PPI Posts Broad-Based Strength in March
The Producer Price Index for final demand jumped 1.0% (4.2% y/y) during March...
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Post Strong February Gain; Sales Fall
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Unexpectedly Increase
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Monetary Policy Blunder: Not Managing Economic & Financial Outcomes Equally
Monetary Policy at a Crossroad: Policymakers Need to Break Promise of Easy Money to Avoid Boom-Bust
State Coincident Indexes in January
Data Surprises, Markets and COVID
by Tom Moeller January 12, 2015
Inventories at the wholesale level during November jumped 0.8% following a
0.6% October rise, earlier reported as 0.4%. Durable goods inventories led the
gain with a 0.8% increase (7.1% y/y). It reflected a 2.6% rise (15.1% y/y) in
computer equipment, a 1.3% gain (8.8% y/y) in electrical equipment and a 0.9%
increase (9.7% y/y) in machinery. Nondurable goods inventories rose 0.7% (4.4%
y/y) driven by a 5.7% surge (-7.4% y/y) in farm products and a 0.4% rise in
chemicals. Petroleum inventories fell 3.7% (-15.5% y/y). Paper & products
inventories were off 2.0% (+0.9% y/y) and apparel inventories dropped 1.2%
(+7.9% y/y).
Wholesale sector sales fell 0.3% (+2.4% y/y) reflecting a 0.8% decline (-0.8% y/y) in nondurables. Chemical sales were off 4.1% (+0.1% y/y), petroleum sales declined 0.5% (-14.1% y/y) and paper & products sales fell 0.6% (+4.0% y/y). These declines were offset by sales of durable goods which rose 0.2% (6.3% y/y), led by a 2.4% rise (8.3% y/y) in electrical & electronic goods and a 1.8% gain (9.6% y/y) in furniture sales. To the downside were metals sales by 1.2% (+14.9% y/y) and machinery sales which fell 0.5% (+8.0% y/y).
The inventory-to-sales ratio ticked up to 1.21, its highest level since October 2009. The nondurable goods ratio jumped to 0.87, its highest point since April 2013, reflecting higher ratios for chemicals, raw farm products and chemicals. The durable goods ratio was stable at 1.58 for the third straight month. Increases in machinery and metal were offset by declines in furniture (to the lowest level since 2007) and electronic products.
The wholesale trade figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
Wholesale Sector - NAICS Classification (%) | Nov | Oct | Sep | Y/Y | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inventories | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 7.1 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 9.4 |
Sales | -0.3 | -0.0 | 0.0 | 2.4 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 12.4 |
I/S Ratio | 1.21 | 1.20 | 1.19 | 1.16 (Nov.'13) | 1.17 | 1.18 | 1.15 |