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Economy in Brief
U.S. FHFA House Price Index Improvement Slows
The FHFA Price Index for house purchases rose 0.3% in February...
U.S. Energy Prices Plateau
Retail gasoline prices edged one penny higher last week to $2.84 per gallon last week (1.5% y/y). ...
Japan’s CPI and Core CPI Creep Higher
Japan's money supply is showing no change in its rate of growth across its various measures...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Weaken as Prices Rise
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes fell 4.9% (-5.4% y/y) during March to 5.210 million units (SAAR)...
U.S. Housing Starts Weaken to Nearly Two-Year Low
Total housing starts during March eased 0.3% (-14.2% y/y) to 1.139 million (SAAR)...
by Gerald D. Cohen February 1, 2019
Wholesale inventories increased 0.3% month-on-month (6.5% year-over-year) during November, following an upwardly revised 0.9% gain in October. The release of this data was delayed by the government shutdown.
Wholesale sales declined 0.6% during November (+4.0% y/y), the second consecutive monthly decline of this magnitude. October's reading was revised down from -0.2%. The Action Economics Forecast Survey looked for just a 0.1% decrease.
The inventory-to-sales (I/S) ratio at the wholesale level rose to 1.29, the fourth consecutive monthly gain. Still, the I/S ratio remains well below the cycle peak of 1.38 reached in February 2016.
The wholesale trade figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The expectations for sales are in the AS1REPNA database.
| Wholesale Sector - NAICS Classification (%) | Nov | Oct | Sep | Nov Y/Y | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inventories | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 6.5 | 3.6 | 2.2 | 1.3 |
| Sales | -0.6 | -0.6 | 0.1 | 4.0 | 7.4 | -1.3 | -4.9 |
| I/S Ratio | 1.29 | 1.28 | 1.27 | 1.26 (Nov '17) | 1.30 | 1.35 | 1.33 |
