Inventories Dip 1.1%; Sales Drop 4.1% in Oct.

Merchant wholesalers posted a 1.1% decrease in inventories in October, while sales dropped 4.1% in the month, according to data released yesterday by the Commerce Department.

Inventories of merchant wholesalers slid to $438.2 billion following a revised 0.4% decrease to $442.9 billion in September, originally reported as a 0.1% decrease to $444.2 billion.

Meanwhile, sales of merchant wholesalers slipped to $377.4 billion following September’s revised 2.1% decrease to $393.7 billion, originally reported as a 1.5% drop to $396.2 billion.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted a 0.2% decrease in wholesale inventories.

Inventories were up 8.0% from October 2007, when they were at $405.6 billion, while year-over-year sales posted a 2.7% jump from $367.4 billion.

The inventories to sales ratio was 1.16, up from 1.12 last month and 1.10 a year ago.

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