Wholesale Trade: Sales and Inventories Rose Solidly in November

The U.S. Census Bureau released wholesale trade statistics on Wednesday showing one of the biggest inventory builds of the year at 0.8%. The need for an inventory build up came as sales surged 1.5% and further underscored by the year-on-year rates.

Sales are significantly higher at 9.8% juxtaposed to only 4.0% for inventories on an annual basis.

Sales

November 2017 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 $492.4 billion, up 1.5% (±0.5%) from the revised October level and were up 9.8% (±0.9%) from the November 2016 level. The September 2017 to October 2017 percent change was revised from the preliminary estimate of up 0.7% (±0.5%) to up 0.8% (±0.5%).

Inventory

Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were $611.0 billion at the end of November, up 0.8% (±0.4%) from the revised October level. Total inventories were up 4.0% (±0.7%) from the revised November 2016 level. The October 2017 to November 2017 percent change was revised from the advance estimate of up 0.7% (±0.4%) to up 0.8 percent (±0.4%).

Inventories/Sales Ratio

The November inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.24. The November 2016 ratio was 1.31.