–Wholesale Inventories Up For 9th Straight Month; Ratio At 1.18
By Kevin Kastner
WASHINGTON (MNI) – The value of wholesale inventories surged in
September, while sales posted a modest gain, data released Tuesday
morning by the Commerce Department showed.
The 1.5% rise in the value of wholesale inventories was led by
large gains in number of components, particularly farm products and
petroleum. Along with an already announced 0.7% rise in factory
inventories, the data suggest that business inventories are likely to
post a solid gain unless there is a large drop in retail inventories.
Wholesale sales were up only 0.4% in September after larger gains
in July and August. As with inventories, farm products were a key factor
in the September sales gain.
As a result of the inventory surge and more modest sales increase,
the inventory-to-sales ratio rose to 1.18 in September from 1.17 in
August and is now the highest since November 2009. The ratio was below
the 1.22 reading a year ago, an indication that wholesalers are still
cautiously holding the line on stocks despite signs of sales
improvement.
On a not-seasonally adjusted basis, the value of wholesale
inventories was up 7.5% from a year ago, but the value of sales was up
11.4% over that period.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: MAUDS$,MT$$$$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]
