According to a report today from the US Census Bureau, the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for November, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,326.7 billion, up 0.1 percent (±0.2 percent) from October 2016 and was up 2.3 percent (±0.4 percent) from November 2015.
Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,827.5 billion, up 0.7 percent (±0.1 percent) from October 2016 and were up 1.5 percent (±0.4 percent) from November 2015.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of November was 1.38. The November 2015 ratio was 1.39.