US June Business Inventories Rose 0.1%; Retail Up 0.6% | ForexLive

?Total Business Inventories Excluding Retail Auto Flat
?Retail Inventories Ex Auto Up Only 0.1%; Retail Categories Mixed
?Business Sales Fall 1.1% In June, Inventory/Sales Ratio At 2-year High

By Kevin Kastner

WASHINGTON (MNI) ? The value of business inventories rose 0.1% to
another record high level in June, with retail inventories up 0.6% to
add to the factory inventory gain already announced due to sales
declines at both levels, data released Tuesday morning by the Commerce
Department showed.

Analysts in a Market News International survey had expected
business inventories to rise only 0.1% following the unrevised 0.3% rise
in May.

Factory inventories were already reported up 0.1% in the month,
while wholesale inventories fell 0.2%.

Overall business inventories would have been flat in June if a
surge in retail motor vehicle inventories was excluded, an MNI
calculation showed.

Retail motor vehicle inventories were up 1.6% in June as retail
motor vehicle sales fell 0.5% that month. The remaining retail
inventories categories combined for a 0.1% rise in June.

Unlike the nearly across-the-board gains in May, the retail
categories were more mixed in June. There inventory gains in the
clothing, furniture, and food categories, but declines in inventories at
building materials stores and at general merchandise stores.

An MNI calculation of retail inventories not included in the
published categories shows a 0.2% decline in June after rising 0.5% in
the previous month.

Business sales fell 1.1% in June, with retail sales excluding food
services down 0.8% in the month. Wholesale sales were already reported
down 1.4%, while manufacturing shipments, which are equal to sales in
this report, fell 1.1%. The business sales decline was the largest since
a 2.8% decline in March 2009.

Despite the June seasonally adjusted decline, business sales were
still up from a year ago, running 1.5% ahead of their June 2011 level
before seasonal adjustment and up 3.0% after seasonal adjustment.

At the same time, June business inventories were 5.1% above their
year-ago levels before seasonal adjustment and up 5.0% after seasonal
adjustment.

As a result of the inventory rise and sales drop, the
inventory-to-sales ratio rose to 1.29 compared with 1.27 in May. The
June ratio was well above the 1.26 ratio in June 2011 and was the
highest since 1.29 in February 2010. Before seasonal adjustment, the
ratio was 1.24 in June, up from 1.21 in May and 1.20 in June 2011.

** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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Source: http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2012/08/14/us-june-business-inventories-rose-0-1-retail-up-0-6/

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