Distrib. Trade Sales & Manu. Shipments Up 6.7% YOY in March

Washington, DC, May 15, 2018-The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for March was estimated at $1,438.3 billion, up 0.5% from February 2018 and was up 6.4% from March 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Manufacturers’ and trade inventories were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,929.6 billion, virtually unchanged from February 2018, but were up 3.8% from March 2017.

The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of March was 1.34. The March 2017 ratio was 1.38.