Wholesale Inventories Down 0.1% in August

U.S. wholesale inventories declined for the third straight month in August, a sign that companies were making progress in reducing stockpiles prior to last month’s terrorist attacks, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

A decline in inventories is important for trucking, because if businesses see their shelf stocks falling, they will need to have more goods manufactured and delivered.

During August, inventories eased 0.1% to $298.68 billion following a 0.9% reduction in July. This marked the first time inventories have declined for three straight months since June 1991, when the nation was emerging from the last recession, Bloomberg noted.

The report also showed that wholesale sales rose 0.6% to $229.31 billion.

However, analysts expect the terrorist attacks will probably lead to a decline in sales, which may mean distributors may be reluctant to add to inventory from manufacturers.

The decline in stockpiles and rise in sales left the inventory-to-sales ratio, a measure of the time goods sit unsold on store shelves, at 1.3 months in August, the lowest since February.

Both factory inventories and inventories of durable goods -- items meant to last for three years or more -- fell 0.7% in August, the latter led by decreases in automobiles and parts.

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