April Sales of Merchant Wholesalers Up 1.6% from March

Washington, DC, June 9, 2015—The U.S. Census Bureau announced that April 2015 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, were $448.3 billion, up 1.6% from the revised March level, but down 3.3% from the April 2014 level.

April sales of durable goods were up 1.2% from last month and up 2.4% from a year ago.

Sales of nondurable goods were up 2.0% from March but down 8.2% from last April.

Sales of farm product raw materials were up 7.4% from last month, and sales of petroleum and petroleum products were up 4.9%.

Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, were $576.9 billion at the end of April, up 0.4% from the revised March level and were up 4.5% from the April 2014 level.

April inventories of durable goods were up 0.1% from last month and were up 6.6% from a year ago.

Inventories of lumber and other construction materials were up 3.4% from last month, while inventories of computer and computer peripheral equipment and software were down 3.1%.

Inventories of nondurable goods were up 0.8% from March and were up 1.1% from last April.

Inventories of paper and paper products were up 3.9% from last month and inventories of apparel, piece goods, and notions were up 2.7%.