Highlights
Wholesale inventories rose 0.6 percent in November, well below sales which jumped 2.2 percent to push the stock-to-sales ratio down one notch to 1.07. Inventories of durables, pushed up by vehicles, rose 0.5 percent but are still below a 0.9 percent rise in sales. Inventories of non-durables, reflecting price gains for energy, rose 0.8 percent but are under a 3.3 percent rise in sales. Breaking apart the stock-to-sales ratios for durables and non-durables shows improvement in both categories.

Inventories on the factory side did show pressure, up 0.8 percent in November in previously released data. Whether unwanted inventory growth is becoming a problem may hinge on the still missing category of retail inventories, which may indeed show accumulation in light of this morning's weak chain-store results. Retail inventories will be posted with Tuesday's business inventories report.

2008 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/10 2/8 3/10 4/9 5/8 6/6 7/8 8/8 9/9 10/9 11/7 12/10 Released For: Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct