US wholesale inventories fall 0.2% amid sharp decline in mfg goods' stocks

US wholesale inventories fell 0.2 per cent in November, as initially estimated last month, amid sharp declines in stocks of long-lasting manufactured goods like motor vehicles and computer equipment. 

Stocks at wholesalers were unchanged in October, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Wednesday. 

Economists polled by Reuters had expected the drop in inventories, a key part of gross domestic product, would be unrevised at 0.2 per cent. 

Inventories increased 0.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis in November. 

Monthly wholesale inventories could rebound in the months ahead as businesses fearful of higher tariffs front-load imports. Goods imports surged 4.3 per cent in November, government data showed on Tuesday. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to impose or massively raise tariffs on imports. 

Durable goods inventories decreased 0.4 per cent in November after easing 0.1 per cent in October. Motor vehicle inventories declined 2.2 per cent while those of computer equipment fell 1.3 per cent. There were also decreases in stocks of machinery. 

Nondurable goods inventories rose 0.2 per cent as a 4.5 per cent plunge in farm products was more than offset by increases in groceries, apparel, petroleum and alcohol. 

Excluding motor vehicles, wholesale inventories gained 0.1 per cent. 

This category goes into the calculation of GDP. 

Private inventory investment was a small drag on GDP in the third quarter. The economy grew at a 3.1 per cent annualized rate in the July-September quarter. 

Sales at wholesalers rebounded 0.6 per cent in November after falling 0.3 per cent in October. They were lifted by a 1.5 per cent jump in durable goods. Sales of nondurable goods fell 0.3 per cent. 

At November's sales pace it would take wholesalers 1.33 months to clear shelves, down from 1.34 in October.   

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)