Wholesale trade inventories slip less than consensus

Sales
March 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 $475.0 billion, down 5.2 percent (±0.5 percent) from the revised February level and were down 5.2 percent (±0.5 percent) from the revised March 2019 level. The January 2020 to February 2020 percent change was revised from the preliminary estimate of down 0.8 percent (±0.5 percent) to down 0.7 percent (±0.5 percent).

Inventories
Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were $650.7 billion at the end of March, down 0.8 percent (±0.2 percent) from the revised February level. Total inventories were down 2.0 percent (±0.9 percent) from the revised March 2019 level. The February 2020 to March 2020 percent change was revised from the advance estimate of down 1.0 percent (±0.2 percent) to down 0.8 percent (±0.2 percent).

Inventories/Sales Ratio
The March inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.37. The March 2019 ratio was 1.33.