Wholesale trade dips more than expected

Sales
January 2020 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after
adjustment for seasonal variations and trading day differences but not for price changes, were $504.6 billion, up 1.6 percent (±0.5 percent) from the revised December level and were up 2.2 percent (±0.7 percent) from the revised January 2019 level. The November 2019 to December 2019 percent change was revised from the preliminary estimate of down 0.7 percent (±0.4 percent) to down 0.2 percent (±0.4 percent)*.

Inventories
Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were $671.6 billion at the end of January, down 0.4 percent (±0.4 percent)* from the revised December level. Total inventories were up 0.4 percent (±0.9 percent)* from the revised January 2019 level. The December 2019 to January 2020 percent change was revised from the advance estimate of down 0.2 percent (±0.4 percent)* to down 0.4 percent (±0.4 percent)*.

Inventories/Sales Ratio
The January inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.33. The January 2019 ratio was 1.35.