Manufacturers’ shipments, trade sales fell 0.2% in April

The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments fell 0.2% to $1.46 trillion in April, from March, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The combined value rose 2.8% in April, from the same month in 2018.

The Census Bureau on Friday (June 14) released manufacturing and trade inventories and sales for April. The estimates are based on data from three surveys: the monthly retail trade survey, the monthly wholesale trade survey and the manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders survey.

Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, rose 0.5% to $2.03 trillion in April, from March. The inventories rose 5.3% in April, from the same month in 2018.

The total business inventories and sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data was 1.39 in April, up from 1.36 in the same month in 2018.