Businesses Inventories Down in December
Inventory levels were unchanged, as expected, while sales increased 1.3%. It's the slowest growth in inventories since July 2005. Inventories of autos and building materials fell rapidly.
The inventory-to-sales ratio fell back to 1.28 in December from 1.30 in November. It's the lowest level of inventories in relation to sales since August. The typical business has goods on hand to meet about 39 days of sales.
In the past year, business sales are up 4.4%, while inventories are up 6%. The figures are not adjusted for price changes.
In the retail sector, sales rose 1% in December. The retail inventory-to-sales ratio fell to 1.47 from 1.489.
Retail auto inventories fell 0.3% while sales rose 1%. Automakers are trying to work down their inventories and have announced production cutbacks. In the retail auto sector, the inventory-to-sales ratio fell to 2.01 from 2.04.
Excluding autos, retail inventories increased 0.6% in December while sales rose 1%.
As reported earlier, manufacturing sales rose 1.4% while inventories rose 0.1%. The inventory-to-sales ratio fell to 1.22.
As reported last week, wholesale sales rose 1.8% while inventories dropped 0.5%. The inventory-to-sales ratio fell to 1.17 from 1.19.