Business inventories edge 0.4% lower in February

Sales 
The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for February, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,464.2 billion, down 0.5percent (±0.2 percent) from January 2020, but was up 1.4 percent (±0.3 percent) from February 2019.  

Inventories 
Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for February, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $2,012.7 billion, down 0.4 percent (±0.1 percent) from January 2020 and were down 0.1 percent (±0.4 percent)* from February 2019. Inventories/Sales 

Ratio 
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of February was 1.37. The February 2019 ratio was 1.39.