End-of-month inventories of durable goods increased 0.2 percent (+/-0.5 percent) from February and were up 6.7 percent (+/-1.3 percent) from last March. Inventories of professional and commercial equipment and supplies decreased 1.7 percent from last month.
End-of-month inventories of nondurable goods increased 0.3 percent (+/-0.5 percent) from February and were up 5.7 percent (+/-1.2 percent) compared to last March. Inventories of beer, wine, and distilled alcoholic beverages increased 2.9 percent from last month, while inventories of farm product raw materials fell 3.0 percent.
Apparel sales in March 2006 decreased 0.6 percent compared to February.