First manufacturer inventory gain in 16 months

Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 15 Jul 2002 21:31

Wall Street economists were surprised when manufacture, retail, and wholesale inventories rose 0.2% in May, signaling the first inventory gain since January 2001.

A drop in inventories of 0.1% was expected, the Commerce Department reported.

Auto inventories increased 2.5%. In addition, the inventories-to-sales ratio, which is a gauge of how many months it takes to sell off inventories at the current sales pace, climbed to 1.36 in May from 1.35 in April.

Although inventory levels are on the rise, sales have slumped. Manufacturing was one of a few sectors to see an increase in sales of 0.2%, while overall sales fell 0.4% after an increase of 1.7% the previous month.

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