Wholesale Trade report - 10:00AM

Full report here MONTHLY WHOLESALE TRADE: SALES AND INVENTORIES APRIL 2009 Sales. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that April 2009 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 $309.4 billion, down 0.4 percent (+/-0.7%)* from the revised March level and were down 19.5 percent (+/-1.6%) from the April 2008 level. The March preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.2 billion or 0.1 percent. April sales of durable goods were down 1.9 percent (+/-0.9%) from last month and were down 23.4 percent (+/-1.9%) from a year ago. Sales of motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and supplies, were down 7.8 percent from last month and sales of metals and minerals, except petroleum were down 6.5 percent. Sales of nondurable goods were up 0.8 percent (+/-0.9%)* from last month, but were down 16.1 percent (+/-1.9%) from last year. Sales of farm product raw materials were up 10.5 percent from last month and sales of beer, wine, and distilled alcoholic beverages were up 2.6 percent. Inventories. Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were $405.4 billion at the end of April, down 1.4 percent (+/-0.4%) from the revised March level and were down 6.2 percent (+/-1.1%) from a year ago. The March preliminary estimate was revised downward $0.6 billion or 0.1 percent. End-of-month inventories of durable goods were down 2.2 percent (+/-0.4%) from last month and were down 5.9 percent (+/-1.2%) from last April. Inventories of metals and minerals, except petroleum, were down 6.8 percent from last month and inventories of motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and supplies were down 4.5 percent. End-of-month inventories of nondurable goods were virtually unchanged (+/-0.7%)* from March, but were down 6.6 percent (+/-1.9%) compared to last April. Inventories of apparel, piece goods, and notions were down 2.6 percent from last month, while inventories of paper and paper products were up 2.8 percent. Inventories/Sales Ratio. The April inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.31. The April 2008 ratio was 1.12.