Inventories at U.S. wholesalers fall for 12th straight month!
NEW YORK - October 8, 2009 - Inventories at U.S. wholesalers dropped in August for a 12th consecutive month, clearing the way for a pickup in orders as sales improve.
The 1.3% decrease in stockpiles was larger than anticipated and followed a revised 1.6% drop in July, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Wholesale inventories have had the longest series of declines since records began in 1992. Sales climbed 1%, the biggest gain since June 2008.
Distributors will likely increase booking after companies drew down inventories at a record pace in the first half of the year. The gains may give the world’s largest economy a boost in what propagandists call the early stages of a recovery as Amerikan factories rev up assembly lines to prevent stockpiles from dwindling even more.
“The degree of decline has been extreme and will likely slow in coming months,” said Guy LeBas, chief economist and fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia. “But we’re not looking for a sharp uptick.”
Economists forecast inventories would drop at a 1% annual rate after a 1.4% decline in July, according to the median of 38 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from declines of 1.8% to 0.5%.
The 1.3% decrease in stockpiles was larger than anticipated and followed a revised 1.6% drop in July, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Wholesale inventories have had the longest series of declines since records began in 1992. Sales climbed 1%, the biggest gain since June 2008.
Distributors will likely increase booking after companies drew down inventories at a record pace in the first half of the year. The gains may give the world’s largest economy a boost in what propagandists call the early stages of a recovery as Amerikan factories rev up assembly lines to prevent stockpiles from dwindling even more.
“The degree of decline has been extreme and will likely slow in coming months,” said Guy LeBas, chief economist and fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia. “But we’re not looking for a sharp uptick.”
Economists forecast inventories would drop at a 1% annual rate after a 1.4% decline in July, according to the median of 38 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from declines of 1.8% to 0.5%.
