Inventories look to a be a big contributor to first-quarter GDP, rising
in February by 0.6 percent for a second straight month and comparing
with a third-quarter monthly average build of 0.3 percent. And the gain
is roughly in line with sales growth as the stock-to-sales ratio
remained unchanged in the month at 1.35.
The biggest build is at
wholesalers, up 1.0 percent in February with retailers up 0.4 percent
and manufacturers up 0.3 percent. It will be interesting to watch
whether manufacturing data for March show any tariff-related stockpiling
of metals. That aside, inventories are on the rise in line with
underlying demand which is a good mix for the economy.
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