U.S. Business Inventories & Sales Rise in April
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Inventory building led by retailers.
- Factory sales gain counters retail decline.
- Inventory/sales ratio is steady.
Total business inventories rose 0.3% (1.0% y/y) in April after easing 0.1% in March. Inventories were little changed throughout all of 2023. The moderate y/y increase as of April continues the tight inventory control of the last year. A 0.3% increase had been expected in the Informa Global Markets Survey.
Retail inventories rose 0.7% (4.8% y/y) in April after a 0.1% March uptick. Strength in the auto sector led the gain with a 1.6% rise (22.8% y/y) which followed a 1.3% March increase. Inventories excluding autos rose 0.3% (-1.9% y/y) after a 0.4% decline. Furniture inventories edged 0.1% higher (-8.0% y/y) in April after falling 0.7% in March. Building material inventories fell 0.2% (-4.9% y/y) while food & beverage store inventories held steady (-1.1% y/y). Clothing inventories rose 1.1% in April (-0.7% y/y) while general merchandise store inventories rose 0.4% (-2.7% y/y).
Manufacturing inventories rose 0.1% (0.4% y/y) in April after having been unchanged in March. Wholesale inventories also edged 0.1% higher (-1.7 y/y) following a 0.5% decline.
Total business sales increased 0.3% (2.2% y/y) in April following a 0.2% March decline. Manufacturing shipments surged 1.0% (2.9% y/y) in April after a 0.4% rise in March. Wholesale sales edged 0.1% higher (1.4% y/y) following a 1.3% decline. Retail sales declined 0.3% (+2.3% y/y) in April following a 0.6% monthly gain in March. The April increase was led by furniture and clothing sales.
The inventory/sales (I/S) ratio was unchanged at 1.37 in April for the third straight month. The manufacturing I/S ratio eased to 1.45 after two months at 1.47. The wholesale I/S ratio remained at 1.35 in April. The retail I/S ratio edged up to 1.30, up from 1.27 twelve months earlier.
The manufacturing and trade data are in Haver’s USECON database. The Informa Global Markets forecast is in the MMSAMER database.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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