Recent Updates
- US: Wholesale Trade (Feb), Producer Prices (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Commodity Detail (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Industry Detail (Mar)
- Canada: Investment in Building Construction (Feb), Labor Force Survey (Mar)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
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...
Total PMIs Gain Traction in March
The PMI readings for March show improvement again...
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Bounces Back in February
Consumer credit outstanding surged $27.6 billion during February...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Record during February
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller February 10, 2015
Inventories at the wholesale level during all of last
year increased 6.7%, the fastest rate since 2011. During December, however, the
gain slipped back to just 0.1% after an unrevised 0.8% jump in November. Durable
goods inventories rose 7.8% last year after a 5.7% 2010 increase. For December
alone, inventories of durables gained 0.2%. Motor vehicle inventories increased
0.2% y/y and furniture inventories rose 1.2% (5.4% y/y). These gains were offset
by a 1.7% decline (+4.8 y/y) in electrical equipment inventories. Nondurable
goods inventories increased 4.9% last year despite a 19.1% drop in petroleum
with lower prices. For December, nondurables inventories slipped 0.1% (+4.9%
y/y), held back by a 6.2% drop in petroleum. Apparel inventories also were off
by 0.6% (+5.5% y/y). A 3.4% increase (1.1% y/y) in chemical inventories offset
these declines.
Wholesale sales increased 5.0% last year after a 4.4% rise in 2013. Durable goods sales increased 5.8% on top of a 4.2% rise. For December alone, wholesale sales overall fell 0.4% (+1.4% y/y) held back by a 13.7% drop (-29.4% y/y) in petroleum sales. Apparel sales also were off by 1.5% (+7.4% y/y). Working the other way, sales of electrical equipment soared 3.4% (13.4 y/y) and chemical sales increased 2.3% (3.9% y/y). Motor vehicle sales improved 0.4% (6.1% y/y).
The inventory-to-sales ratio at the wholesale level rose to 1.19 from 1.17 in 2013. In December the ratio rose to 1.22, its highest since 2009. The durable goods I/S ratio rose to 1.57 in December but was fairly steady during the year. The nondurable ratio gained to 0.89 in December and to 0.85 for the year, despite a decline in petroleum to 0.31 for the whole year from 0.35.
The wholesale trade figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
Wholesale Sector - NAICS Classification (%) | Dec | Nov | Oct | Y/Y | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inventories | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 4.3 | 5.5 |
Sales | -0.4 | -0.4 | -0.0 | 1.4 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 4.8 |
I/S Ratio | 1.22 | 1.21 | 1.20 | 1.16 (Dec.'13) | 1.19 | 1.17 | 1.18 |