WASHINGTON — The U.S. August wholesale trade report was a little stronger than expected in inventories and perhaps a neutral for GDP calculations.
August wholesale inventories posted a 0.1% rise, as sales plunged 1.0% in their first drop since January. Inventories were a bit stronger than expected, and partly reversed the 0.3% decline of July.
Wholesale data is less than a third of the total inventory picture, but so far they suggest a fairly neutral effect on GDP. Inventories added 0.02 point overall to Q2 GDP.
In the wholesale sector, drops in autos and metals were as expected given strong auto sales. Inventories experienced builds in lumber, computers, hardware and machinery.
The overall wholesale inventory/sales ratio continued to edge up, and was 1.31 in August versus 1.30 in July and 1.20 a year ago. The durables sector was responsible, specifically autos, where the I/S ratio stands at 1.77 times.
Most of the gain in inventories was in the seasonal adjustment, and the moving-ahead of auto assemblies into July might have affected the subsequent readings for stocks.
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