–Retail Auto Inventories Jump 1.5%; Retail Ex Auto Up 0.6%
–Business Sales Up 0.3% in August, Inventory/Sales Ratio Still 1.28
By Kevin Kastner
WASHINGTON (MNI) – The value of business inventories rose 0.5% in
August, as expected, with retail inventories up 0.8%, data released
Friday morning by the Commerce Department showed.
Retail motor vehicle inventories rose 1.5% as motor vehicle sales
fell 0.8% that month. The remaining retail inventories categories
combined for a 0.6% increase, with gains in every category except a 0.1%
decline in furniture inventories.
In addition, an MNI calculation of retail inventories not included
in the published categories shows a rise of 0.8% after a 0.4% decline in
the previous month.
Both factory inventories and wholesale inventories were already
reported up 0.4% in the month.
Overall business inventories would have still been up 0.5% in
August if the surge in retail motor vehicle inventories was excluded, a
Market News International calculation showed.
Meanwhile, business sales rose 0.3% in August, with retail sales
excluding food services up 0.3% in the month. Wholesale sales were up
1.0%, but manufacturing sales fell 0.2%.
Sales were up sharply from a year ago, running 13.7% ahead of their
August 2010 pace before seasonal adjustment and 11.8% after seasonal
adjustment.
At the same time, inventories were 10.4% above their year-ago
levels before seasonal adjustment and up 10.5% after seasonal
adjustment.
In August, the inventory-to-sales ratio held steady at 1.28, still
slightly below the 1.29 ratio in August 2010.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: MAUDS$,MT$$$$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]
