US August Business Inventories Rise 0.6%; Retail Up 0.6 - ForexLive

?Total Business Inventories Excluding Retail Auto Up 0.5%
?Retail Inventories Ex Auto Rise 0.2%; Retail Categories Mixed
?Business Sales Rose 0.5% In August, Inventory/Sales Ratio Unch At 1.28

By Kevin Kastner

WASHINGTON (MNI) ? The value of business inventories rose 0.6% to
another record high level in August, with retail inventories up 0.6% to
add to similar inventory gains at the factory and wholesale levels
already announced, data released Monday morning by the Commerce
Department showed.

Analysts in an MNI survey had expected total business inventories
to rise 0.5%. Factory inventories were already reported up 0.6% in the
month, while wholesale inventories rose 0.5%.

Overall business inventories would have been up 0.5% in August if a
surge in retail motor vehicle inventories was excluded, an MNI
calculation showed.

Retail motor vehicle and parts inventories rose 1.5%, despite a
1.8% sales rise that month. The remaining retail inventories categories
combined for a 0.2% increase in August.

Outside of motor vehicles, there were retail inventory gains in the
building materials, furniture, and clothing categories. Food and
beverage store inventories fell 0.1%, while general merchandise store
inventories fell 0.1%, with department store inventories down 0.5%.
Sales at department stores were flat in the month.

An MNI calculation of retail inventories not included in the
published categories shows a 0.4% rise in August after a 0.6% increase
in the previous month.

Business sales rose 0.5% in August, with retail sales excluding
food services up 1.3% in the month. Wholesale sales were already
reported up 0.9%, but manufacturing shipments, which are equal to sales
in this report, fell 0.3%.

Business sales were up from a year ago, 3.2% ahead of their August
2011 level before seasonal adjustment and up 3.1% after seasonal
adjustment.

At the same time, August business inventories were 5.2% above their
year-ago levels before seasonal adjustment and up 5.3% after seasonal
adjustment.

As a result of the comparable gains in business inventories and
sales in August, the inventory-to-sales ratio held steady at 1.28 in the
month. The August ratio was still above the 1.26 ratio in August 2011.
Before seasonal adjustment, the ratio was 1.22 in August, down from 1.31
in July, but up from 1.20 in August 2011.

** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

[TOPICS: MAUDS$,MT$$$$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]

Source: http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2012/10/15/us-august-business-inventories-rise-0-6-retail-up-0-6/

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