--US November business inventories +0.5%; sales -0.3%
--US November inventory/sales ratio at 1.36; October 1.35
--US November retailer inventories +0.5%; autos +0.9%
--US November retail durable stock/sales ratio at 2.00; October 1.97
--US Nov retail nondurable stock/sales ratio at 1.10; October 1.09
By Andrew Williams, BridgeNews
Washington--Jan. 16--U.S. business inventories rose 0.5% in November, matching the consensus estimate of private economists. Business sales posted their second consecutive monthly decrease, dropping 0.3%. That put the inventory-to-sales ratio at 1.36 in November--the highest since April 1999 and up from October's 1.35.
* * * According to the U.S. Commerce Department, inventories at retailers also were up 0.5% in November, boosted by a 0.9% rise in automotive inventories.
Retail inventories were up 0.9% in October.
The retail inventory figure provides the final snapshot of U.S. inventory activity for November. As previously reported, factory inventories grew 0.5% , while wholesale inventories rose0.4% .
In a survey of 20 economists by BridgeNews, the spread of estimates for overall November business inventories ranged from up 0.4% to up 0.6%.
RETAIL INVENTORY LEVELS
In the retail sector, the 0.9% rise in automotive stocks followed a revised 1.1% increase in October.
Excluding autos, retail inventories were up 0.4% in November--half the 0.8% gain of a month earlier.
STOCK-TO-SALES RATIO
Retailers' inventories/sales ratio rose to 1.47 for November from 1.45 the previous month.
Within retail, the durable goods ratio rose to 2.00, from 1.97; the nondurable goods ratio climbed to 1.10, from October's 1.09.
BUSINESS SALES
The 0.3% decrease in November business sales followed a 0.5% drop in October. The last time sales fell two months in a row was in July and August 1998, a Commerce official said. End Copyright 2001 Bridge Information Systems Inc. All rights reserved.