Posted January 8, 2010
Merchant wholesaler sales increase
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that merchant wholesalers November sales were $337.4 billion, up 3.3 percent.
November sales of durable goods were up 1.9 percent from last month, but were down 4.2 percent from a year ago. Compared to last month, sales of electrical and electronic goods were up 5.9 percent and sales of lumber and other construction materials were up 1.9 percent.
Total inventories of merchant wholesalers were $386.3 billion at the end of November, up 1.5 percent from the October level, but were down 11.0 percent from a year ago. Inventories of machinery, equipment, and supplies were down 1.4 percent from last month, while inventories of computer and computer peripheral equipment and software were up 2.2 percent.
The November inventories/sales ratio was 1.14. The November 2008 ratio was 1.29.
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