Inventories in the manufacturing and trade sectors in the United States declined 0.2% in December to hit $2,584.3 billion, a report by the US Census Bureau released on Friday showed. On an annual basis, the figure was up 2% from December 2023.
The combined value of trade sales and manufacturers' shipments for the last month of 2024, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, came in at $1,908.8 billion, rising 0.8% on a monthly basis and jumping 3.1% year on year.
The ratio between business inventories and sales was 1.35 at the end of December, down from 1.37 a year ago.