According to the US Census Bureau, the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for April, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,425.9 billion, up 0.4 percent (±0.1 percent) from March 2018 and was up 6.7 percent (±1.1 percent) from April 2017.
Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,930.0 billion, up 0.3 percent (±0.1 percent) from March 2018 and were up 4.4 percent (±1.3 percent) from April 2017.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of April was 1.35. The April 2017 ratio was 1.38.