The Commerce Department reported on Monday its final estimates showed
that the U.S. wholesale inventories were flat m-o-m in March, being marginally
worse than the preliminary estimates of a 0.1 percent m-o-m advance.
Economists had forecast the reading to stay unrevised at +0.1 percent
m-o-m.
In February, wholesale inventories held steady m-o-m (revised from +0.1 percent m-o-m).
According to the report, durable goods inventories were unchanged m-o-m in March, as climbs in
Automotive (+1.5 percent m-o-m) and Machinery (+1.1 percent m-o-m) were offset
by declines in the remaining 7 durable industries. Meanwhile, stocks of nondurable goods fell 0.2 percent m-o-m, as 6 out of 9 nondurable businesses posted decreases
in wholesale inventories in March compared to the previous month, led by Petroleum
(-3.6 percent m-o-m), Paper (-2.2 percent m-o-m) and Farm products (-1.9
percent m-o-m).
In y-o-y terms, wholesale inventories surged 9.1 percent in March.