Business inventories were estimated at $2,029.8 billion, up 0.5% (±0.1%) from March and 5.3% (±0.5%) from April 2018. The figure from the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey met the consensus forecast.
| Indicators | Prior | Consensus Forecast | Forecast Range | Actual |
| Inventories – M/M ∆ | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.2% — 0.6% | 0.5% |
The build in business inventories will be a big boost to second-quarter (Q2) 2019 gross domestic product (GDP). All figures are adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes.
Sales
Trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for April were estimated at $1,462.0 billion, down 0.2% (±0.2%) from March 2019. But that’s up 2.8% (±0.3%) from April 2018.
Inventories/Sales Ratio
The total business inventories/sales ratio at the end of April was 1.39. The April 2018 ratio was 1.36.
