Recent Updates
- Saudi Arabia: Cement Deliveries (Nov)
- Iraq: CBI Purchase of FX from MOF (Oct)
- US: Import/Export Prices, Advance Retail Sales (Nov)
- Services Sector Survey (Oct)
- Germany: BOP Detail (Oct), External Position of the BBK (Nov), BBK Curren
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Import and Export Prices Increase
Import prices rose 0.2% during November (-1.3% y/y)...
U.S. Business Inventories Rise While Sales Slip
Total business inventories increased 0.2% (3.1% y/y) during October...
Friday 13 of December 2019: An unlucky day for Japan’s Tankan
The manufacturing barometer, which is considered the bellwether of this index, fell to zero in Q4 2019 from 5 in Q3...
U.S. Financial Accounts Show Larger Government Borrowing, Somewhat Less Household Borrowing
Total borrowing in U.S. financial markets rose to $4,266 billion in Q3 2019...
U.S. Producer Prices Are Unexpectedly Tame; Core Prices Weaken
The Producer Price Index for final demand was unchanged during November (1.1% y/y)...
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 |
