Wholesale motor vehicle inventories increased 1.5% after accelerating 2.0% in February. Excluding autos, wholesale inventories fell 0.2% in March. This component goes into the calculation of GDP. Sales at wholesalers dropped 2.1% after rising 0.4% in February. At March's sales pace it would take wholesalers 1.40 months to clear shelves, up from 1.37 months in February. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - U.S. wholesale inventories
were revised lower in March to show them unchanged from the
prior month, according to government data on Monday.
The Commerce Department had previously estimated wholesale
inventories to have gained 0.1%. Stocks at wholesalers were also
unchanged in February. Economists polled by Reuters had expected
that inventories would be unrevised.
Inventories are a key part of gross domestic product. They
increased 9.1% in March on a year-on-year basis.
Private inventory investment declined in the first quarter
for the first time in 1-1/2 years, restricting GDP growth to a
1.1% annualized pace last quarter. The inventory drawdown
reflected businesses reducing stock in anticipation of weaker
demand later this year. Stronger consumer spending early in the
first quarter also contributed to the inventory rundown.
Leaner inventories are potentially good news in the
calculation of GDP for the second quarter. There had been fears
that a correction of the inventory bloat would result in a
sharper economic downturn. But the first-quarter decline led
some economists to believe that much of the inventory
liquidation was probably behind.
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