Metrics 2.0: Monthly Wholesale Trade Total Sales Up 0.7% and Inventories Up 0.2% in March

March 2006 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $315.0 billion, up 0.7 percent from the revised February level and were up 9.9 percent from the March 2005 level, U.S. Census Bureau announced today.

Total inventories were $366.7 billion at the end of March, up 0.2% from last month, and were up 6.3% from a year ago.

The March inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.16. It was was 1.20 in Mar'05.

▪	March sales of durable goods increased 0.3% MoM and were up 9.2% from a year ago.
▪	Sales of petroleum and petroleum products increased 3.9% while sales of motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and supplies decreased 2.6% from Feb'06.
▪	End-of-month inventories of nondurable goods increased 0.3% from February and were up 5.7% compared to last Mar'05.
▪	Inventories of beer, wine, and distilled alcoholic beverages increased 2.9% from February, while inventories of farm product raw materials fell 3.0%.
▪	Nondurable goods account for 36.8%of total inventories while durable goods constitute the rest 63.2%.

Monthly Wholesale Trade: http://www.census.gov/svsd/www/mwts.html

Business & Market Intelligence

Monthly Wholesale Trade Total Sales Up 0.7% and Inventories Up 0.2% in March