Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales

The Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales report, based on data from the Monthly Retail Trade Survey, the Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey, and the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders Survey, provides broad and timely measures of domestic retail trade, wholesale trade, and manufacturing activities. It offers the only source of monthly data on the total business activities of these sectors. Authorized by the United States Code, Title 13, the report aids the Bureau of Economic Analysis in GDP estimates. Various government bodies and private entities use it for policy development, market analysis, and economic forecasting. Released approximately six weeks after the reference month, it includes sales, inventories, and inventories-to-sales ratios, both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted.

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