U.S. Nov business inventories rose 0.3 pct

Biz.Yahoo/Reuters ^ | January 16, 2004

[Starwind]

U.S. Nov business inventories rose 0.3 pct
Friday January 16, 8:29 am ET

   WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) -  Commerce Department
seasonally adjusted data on U.S. business inventories and sales.
PCT CHANGES:    
 INVENTORIES          Nov       Oct    (Prev)    Nov'03/02
  Total Business       0.3       0.4       0.4       2.1
  Manufacturers       -0.2       0.1      UNCH      -1.0
  Retailers            0.7       0.7       0.6       5.1
  Autos/parts          1.2       1.5       1.5       8.3
  Wholesalers          0.5       0.5       0.5       2.2
  SALES                Nov       Oct    (Prev)    Nov'03/02
  Total Business       0.5       0.7       0.7       5.4
  Manufacturers       UNCH       0.7       0.7       4.1
  Retailers            1.2      -0.2      -0.3       7.0
  Autos/parts          3.0       N/A      -1.4       8.7
  Wholesalers          0.3       2.0       2.0       5.5
BLNS OF DLRS: 
 INVENTORIES           Nov       Oct    (Prev)    Nov'02
  Total Business   1,187.4   1,183.3   1,182.8   1,163.3
  Manufacturers      437.9     438.7     438.5     442.5
  Retailers          456.8     453.4     453.2     434.5
  Autos/parts        158.8     156.9     156.8     146.6
  Wholesalers        292.7     291.2     291.2     286.3
 SALES                 Nov       Oct    (Prev)    Nov'02
  Total Business     879.8     875.5     875.5     834.5
  Manufacturers      339.9     339.8     339.9     326.5
  Retailers          292.4     288.9     288.8     273.4
  Autos/parts         77.5      75.3      75.1      71.3
  Wholesalers        247.4     246.7     246.8     234.6
Inventory-to-          Nov       Oct    (Prev)    Nov'02
 Sales Ratio          1.35      1.35      1.35      1.39
FORECAST:
Reuters survey of U.S. economists forecast:
U.S. Nov business inventories +0.2
HISTORICAL:
U.S. Commerce Department said November stock/sales ratio
matches record low 1.35 set in October.
The inventory-to-sales ratio is a measure of how long it
would take to deplete inventories at the current sales pace.

[Starwind]

The full Commerce report is at MANUFACTURING AND TRADE INVENTORIES AND SALES NOVEMBER 2003

[Starwind]

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