Highlights of the August 2015 US business inventories data report 14 October 2015

  • Prior +0.1%
  • Sales -0.6% vs +0.1% prior m/m
  • Inventory sales ratio 1.37 vs 1.36 prior

Modest gains in inventories among all bar manufacturing. No surprise to see that in manufacturing given the recent weakness

Sales were down across the board except for Autos/parts

Although there doesn't look to be any worries on the inventory side, the inventory/sales ratio is still ticking up and that points to problems shifting stocks, and highlights the weakening sales.

US inventory/sales ratio

It's all about finding the right balance between stocks and sales. A big build in inventories with low sales is bad, low inventories with low sales is also bad