Wholesale trade shy away from estimates

Sales
April 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 $395.4 billion, down 16.9percent (±0.5 percent) from the revised March level and were down 20.7 percent (±0.7 percent) from the revised April 2019 level. The February 2020 to March 2020 percent change was revised from the preliminary estimate of down 5.2 percent (±0.5 percent) to down 5.1 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 $650.4 billion at the end of April, up 0.3 percent (±0.2 percent) from the revised March level. Total inventories were down 2.8 percent (±0.9 percent) from the revised April 2019 level. The March 2020 to April 2020 percent change was revised from the advance estimate of up 0.4 percent (±0.2 percent) to up 0.3 percent (±0.2 percent).

Inventories/Sales Ratio 
The April inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.65. The April 2019 ratio was 1.34.