- Wholesale Inventories for February rose 1.1% versus estimates of a .5% rise and an upwardly revised 1.3% increase in January.
BOTTOM LINE: Inventories at US wholesalers rose more than forecast in February, Bloomberg reported. Sales fell .8%, the most since January 2007. Wholesalers have enough goods on hand to last 1.12 months at the current sales pace. The rise in inventories was led by gains among auto, furniture and metals distributors. Auto inventories should fall in this quarter as manufacturers use existing products while they wait for the five-week old American Axle strike to end. The parts shortage that has resulted form the strike has forced GM to shut or idle 30 plants. GM will also shut a sport-utility vehicle assembly plant next week due to the strike. Stockpiles of non-durable products, such as oil, rose 1.8%. Inventory rebuilding in January and February should help 1Q GDP to an extent, however it will likely still come in mildly negative.
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