REPEAT:MNI DATA ANALYSIS:US March Wholesale Inventories +0.3%>

Repeats Story Initially Transmitted at 14:00 GMT May 9/10:00 EST May 9

--March Wholesale Sales +0.3%; Inv/Sales Ratio 1.26 Vs 1.26 In Feb

--March Business Inv Tracking +0.1%, Business Sales +0.4%

By Holly Stokes and Sara Haire

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - March wholesale inventories rose by 0.3% in 

March, revised down from the 0.5% rise reported in the advance estimate, 

while wholesale sales also rose 0.3% in the month, data released by the 

U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday showed. 

     Given that wholesale inventories rose 0.3%, and factory inventories 

reported a 0.3% gain last Thursday, and barring no revision to the 0.4% 

decline in retail inventories, an MNI calculation is expecting a an 

increase of 0.1% for business inventories, which will be released May 

15.  

     With the addition of the 0.3% increase in wholesale sales to the 

0.6% increase for retail trade sales from last month's advanced sales 

release and the 0.4% increase for factory shipments reported on May 3, 

an MNI calculation indicates that business sales will see a 0.4% rise, 

barring a large revision to retail trade sales data. 

--Y/Y SALES STILL UP

     Since both March wholesale inventories and sales saw equal 

increases, the inventory/sales ratio remained at 1.26. Inventories 

year-over-year is up 5.5%, however sales have seen a larger rise of 7.3% 

from March 2017. The ratio is below the 1.28 ratio seen in March 2017, 

pointing to sales outpacing inventories in the past year. 

     When excluding the 0.2% drop in autos, inventories would have been 

up 0.4% in March following a 1.1% rise in February, an MNI calculation 

showed. 

     Wholesale sales would have been up 0.5% in March if the 1.6% 

decline in autos had been excluded. This follows a 1.1% increase seen in 

February when excluding auto sales. The year-over-year rate showed 

strength in the month, rising 7.3%. 

--INVENTORIES MIXED

     The value of durable inventories rose by 0.8% in the month, however 

auto inventories declined by 0.2%. Excluding the decline in autos, most 

other durable components were up, with the only declines seen in 

professional equipment (-0.7%) and computer equipment (-1.5%). 

     Nondurables inventories declined by 0.4% in March. The largest 

decline was seen in the drugs component, falling 2.2% in the month. Most 

other categories also saw declines, with the exception of paper (+1.4%), 

farm products (+3.8%), and petroleum was flat in the month. 

     Durables goods sales were down 0.3% in the month, with auto sales 

down 1.6%. The remaining categories were particularly weak this 

month, with the only increases seen in electrical (+2.1%) and 

machinery (+0.9%). These increaes were unable to offset the declines 

in all other categories. 

     Nondurable goods sales rose by 1.0% in March. This rise follows 

February's 0.4% gain. Almost all of the components were up in the month, 

with the only exception being groceries (-1.0%) and chemicals (-0.8%). 

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