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 said Tuesday business inventories for manufacturing and trade were $1,869.3 billion, up 0.5% (±0.1%) from May 2017. Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, are 2.8% (±0.2%) higher than levels in June 2016.
Sales, also adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at $1,356.8 billion, up 0.3% (±0.2%) from May 2017. They are up 4.3% (±0.4%) from June 2016.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data was 1.38, down slightly from the 1.40 in the end of June 2016. This could be fueled by a supply that is exceeding demand or by businesses stocking up on inventories in anticipation of a stronger economy.
Worth noting, the higher-than-expected headline is likely to lift second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) revision estimates, which were already likely to get a big boost from the upward revisions in today’s very positive retail sales report.
