Total business inventories rose 0.6% (4.9% y/y) during December after holding steady in November. Total business sales fell 1.0% (+1.9% y/y) following a 0.6% decline. The inventory-to-sales ratio increased to 1.38, its highest level since the middle of 2017.

Retail inventories increased 0.9% (4.0% y/y) in December following a 0.4% decline. Auto inventories improved 0.6% (9.3% y/y) for the second straight month. Non-auto retail inventories rebounded 1.0% (1.1% y/y) and recovered November's decline. General merchandise inventories rebounded 0.9% (-0.1% y/y) after a 2.1% drop. In the department store sector, inventories recovered 1.0% (-5.2% y/y) after tumbling 5.3% in the prior month. Building materials inventories rose 0.9% (7.0% y/y) after a 0.1% uptick, while clothing store inventories rebounded 1.4% (0.6% y/y) following a 0.7% decline. Inventories of furniture, electronics and appliances recovered 0.7% (-1.3% y/y) after dropping 4.6%. As reported earlier, wholesale inventories surged 1.1% (6.9% y/y) following a 0.4% increase. Factory sector inventories were fairly steady (4.2% y/y) after a 0.1% slip.

Retail sales stumbled 1.8% (+0.3% y/y) during December after holding steady. Non-auto sales moved 2.5% lower (-0.2% y/y) after little change. Wholesale sector sales fell 1.0% (+1.2% y/y), about the same as they did in November. Shipments from the factory sector eased 0.2% (+4.3% y/y), down for the third straight month.

The overall business inventory-to-sales (I/S) ratio surged to 1.38. The retail sector ratio jumped to 1.47, its highest point since August of 2017. The non-auto I/S ratio strengthened to 1.21, its highest level since April 2018. The wholesale sector I/S ratio rose to 1.33, the highest level since the middle of 2016. The manufacturing sector I/S ratio held steady at 1.35 and remained near the three-year low.

The manufacturing and trade data are in Haver's USECON database.