A worker stacks boxes of television sets after they have been assembled, checked and repackaged, before moving them to the warehouse at Element Electronics in Winnsboro, South Carolina May 29, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)
The U.S. Census Bureau report on wholesale trade showed sales and inventories both gained in April, though inventory gains lagged sales.
Sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $493.3 billion, up 0.8% from the revised March level. They were up 7.8% (±3.3%) from the April 2017 level.
The February 2018 to March 2018 percent change was unrevised from the Monthly Wholesale Annual Revision Report and is up 0.4%.
Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were $630.2 billion at the end of April, up 0.1% from the revised March level. Total inventories were up 5.8% from the revised April 2017 level.
The March 2018 to April 2018 percent change was revised from the advance estimate of virtually unchanged to up 0.1%.
Inventories/Sales Ratio
The April inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.28. The April 2017 ratio was 1.30.
