Wholesale Trade – November 2008

Wholesale Trade At a Glance

• Wholesale Sales: $349.2 billion
• Monthly Change: Down 7.1%
• Year-to-year Change: Down 7.6%
• Inventories: $435.0 billion
• Monthly Change: Down 0.6%
• Inventory Sales Ratio: 1.25

Technorati Tags: wholesale trade

MONTHLY WHOLESALE TRADE: SALES AND INVENTORIES
November 2008
Intention to Revise Wholesale Data: Monthly wholesale sales, inventories, and inventories/sales ratios will be revised based on the results of the 2007 Annual Wholesale
Trade Survey. Revised unadjusted and corresponding adjusted data are tentatively scheduled for release on our website on March 31, 2009.
Sales. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that November 2008 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 $349.2 billion, down 7.1 percent
(+/-0.4%) from the revised October level and were down 7.6 percent (+/-1.2%) from the November 2007 level. The October preliminary estimate
was revised downward $1.3 billion or 0.4 percent. November sales of durable goods were down 6.1 percent (+/-0.7%) from last month and were down
9.4 percent (+/-2.1%) from a year ago. Compared to last month, sales of motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and supplies were down 10.6 percent
and sales of electrical and electronic goods were down 8.8 percent. Sales of nondurable goods were down 7.9 percent (+/-0.9%) from last month and
were down 6.1 percent (+/-1.8%) from last year. Sales of petroleum and petroleum products were down 25.1 percent from last month and sales
of chemicals and allied products were down 5.0 percent.
Inventories. Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations
but not for price changes, were $435.0 billion at the end of November, down 0.6 percent (+/-0.4%) from the revised October level, but were up 6.3
percent (+/-1.4%) from a year ago. The October preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.5 billion or 0.1 percent. End-of-month inventories of
durable goods were down 0.1 percent (+/-0.4%)* from last month, but were up 9.2 percent (+/-1.8%) from last November. Inventories of lumber and
other construction materials were down 2.3 percent from last month, while inventories of motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and supplies were up
1.2 percent. End-of-month inventories of nondurable goods decreased 1.5 percent (+/-0.4%) from October, but increased 1.6 percent (+/-3.7%)*
compared to last November. Inventories of petroleum and petroleum products were down 6.2 percent from last month and inventories of chemicals
and allied products were down 4.4 percent.
Inventories/Sales Ratio. The November inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based
on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.25. The November 2007 ratio was 1.08.

Source: Commerce Department, Census Bureau