By Paul Kiernan

 

WASHINGTON--U.S. wholesalers reduced inventories in September at the fastest pace in nearly two years, the Commerce Department said Friday. Here are a few takeaways from the report:

--Wholesale inventories fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in September from the prior month, the largest decline since October 2017. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 0.3% drop.

--Inventories increased 0.1% in August, revised down from a previous estimate of a 0.2% gain.

--Sales in September were unchanged from a month earlier.

--The inventory-to-sales ratio, or how fast supplies would be exhausted at the month's sales pace, was 1.36 in September, unchanged from August.

--The Commerce Department's latest wholesale trade report can be found at www.census.gov/wholesale/pdf/mwts/currentwhl.pdf

 

Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 08, 2019 10:15 ET (15:15 GMT)

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