Trade Sales & Manufacturer Shipments Edge Down in January

Washington, DC, March 12, 2015—The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for January was estimated at $1,302.5 billion, down 2.0% from December 2014 and down 0.3% from January 2014, says the Commerce Department.

Manufacturers’ and trade inventories were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,761.7 billion, virtually unchanged from December 2014 but were up 3.4% from January 2014.

The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of January was 1.35. The January 2014 ratio was 1.30.