April Distrib. Trade Sales & Manu. Shipments Down 14.4%

Washington, DC, June 16, 2020-The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for April was estimated at $1,184.8 billion, down 14.4% from March 2020 and was down 18.4% from April 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for April, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,981.2 billion, down 1.3% from March 2020 and were down 2.2% from April 2019.

The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of April was 1.67. The April 2019 ratio was 1.39.