Wholesale Trade – September 2008

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Pending Home Sales At a Glance
Wholesale Trade At a Glance

Wholesale Sales: $396.2 billion,
Monthly Change: Down 1.5%
Year-to-year Change: Up 9.1%
Inventories: $444.2 billion
Monthly Change: Down 0.1%
Inventory Sales Ratio: 1.12

MONTHLY WHOLESALE TRADE: SALES AND INVENTORIES
SEPTEMBER 2008
Sales. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that September 2008 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 $396.2 billion, down 1.5 percent (+/-
0.5%) from the revised August level, but up 9.1 percent (+/-1.2%) from the September 2007 level. The August preliminary estimate was revised
downward $2.5 billion or 0.6 percent. September sales of durable goods were down 1.0 percent (+/-0.8%) from last month, but were up 3.5 percent
(+/-1.8%) from a year ago. Sales of nondurable goods were down 1.9 percent (+/-0.8%) from last month, but were up 14.1 percent (+/-1.7%) from
last year. Sales of farm product raw materials were down 7.8 percent from last month and sales of chemicals and allied products were down 4.6
percent.
Inventories. Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations
but not for price changes, were $444.2 billion at the end of September, down 0.1 percent (+/-0.3%)* from the revised August level, but were up 9.7
percent (+/-1.2%) from a year ago. The August preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.8 billion or 0.2 percent. End-of-month inventories of
durable goods were up 0.8 percent (+/-0.5%) from last month and were up 10.2 percent (+/-1.5%) from last September. Inventories of machinery,
equipment, and supplies were up 2.0 percent and inventories of electical and electronic goods were up 1.9 percent. End-of-month inventories of
nondurable goods decreased 1.4 percent (+/-0.7%) from August, but were up 8.8 percent (+/-3.1%) compared to last September. Inventories of farm
product raw materials were down 7.2 percent from last month and inventories of petroleum and petroleum products were down 3.5 percent.
Inventories/Sales Ratio. The September inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based
on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.12. The September 2007 ratio was 1.12.