US: Business inventories contract 0.1% in November vs +0.3% expected

"Manufacturers’ and trade inventories were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,980.5 billion, down 0.1 percent from October 2018, but were up 4.6 percent from November 2017," the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Thursday.

Key takeaways from the press release

• The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for November was estimated at $1,462.5 billion, down 0.3 percent from October 2018, but was up 4.2 percent from November 2017.
• The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of November was 1.35. The November 2017 ratio was 1.35.