US wholesale inventories for May 0.0% versus -0.1% expected

<p>Wholesale sales:</p><ul><li>Prior month inventories -0.1%</li><li>May 2023 wholesale sales, excluding manufacturers' sales branches and offices, were $650.2 billion.</li><li>Wholesale sales decreased 0.2% from the revised April 2023 level.</li><li>Sales were down 4.0% from the revised May 2022 level.</li><li>The sales change from March 2023 to April 2023 was virtually unchanged, revised from a preliminary estimate of a 0.2% increase.</li></ul><p>Inventories:</p><ul><li>Total inventories of merchant wholesalers (excluding manufacturers' sales branches and offices) were $913.7 billion at the end of May 2023, virtually unchanged from the revised April 2023 level.</li><li>Total inventories were up 3.7% from the revised May 2022 level.</li><li>The inventories change from April 2023 to May 2023 was virtually unchanged, revised from a preliminary estimate of a 0.1% decrease.</li></ul><p>Inventory/Sales Ratio:</p><ul><li>The May 2023 inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers (excluding manufacturers' sales branches and offices) was 1.41.</li><li>The May 2022 ratio was 1.30, indicating a higher amount of inventory relative to sales in May 2023.</li></ul><p>The inventory-to-sales chart above shows that the levels are near the highs of pre-pandemic levels. </p><p>At the start of the pandemic, the ratio soared as the economy entered the lock-down phase. Then inventories became a problem due to supply chain issues, which led to a sharp move lower in the ratio, and higher inflation in the process. </p><p>Now with the economy slowing (?), and supply chain issues cleared, the ratio is increasing. That should lead to lower prices if it persists over time. </p>

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.