Inventories-to-shipments ratio unchanged from February

03 May '08

4 min read

U.S. Census Bureau reports Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories and Orders March 2008.

Summary:
New orders for manufactured goods in March, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, increased $5.9 billion or 1.4 percent to $432.3 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. This followed a 0.9 percent February decrease.

Shipments, up two of the last three months, increased $4.9 billion or 1.1 percent to $428.7 billion. This followed a 1.9 percent February decrease.

Unfilled orders, up thirty-four of the last thirty-five months, increased $8.9 billion or 1.1 percent to $832.3 billion. This was at the highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 1.0 percent February increase. The unfilled orders-toshipments ratio was 5.49, down from 5.50 in February.

Inventories, up thirteen of the last fourteen months, increased $5.0 billion or 0.9 percent to $544.3 billion. This was also at the highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.7 percent February increase. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.27, unchanged from February.

New Orders:
New orders for manufactured durable goods in March, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, increased $0.3 billion or 0.1 percent to $213.7 billion, revised from the previously published 0.3 percent decrease. This followed a 0.6 percent February decrease.

Machinery, up three of the last four months, had the largest increase, $1.7 billion or 6.4 percent to $28.9 billion. New orders for manufactured nondurable goods increased $5.6 billion or 2.6 percent to $218.6 billion.

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