According to a release today from the US Census Bureau, the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for February, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,284.4 billion, down 0.4 percent (±0.2 percent) from January 2016 and was down 1.4 percent (±0.4 percent) from February 2015.
Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,812.1 billion, down 0.1 percent (±0.1 percent) from January 2016, but were up 1.2 percent (±0.5 percent) from February 2015.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of February was 1.41. The February 2015 ratio was 1.37.