Real inventories, sales, and inventory-sales ratios for manufacturing and trade for the third quarter of 2004

Survey of Current Business, Jan, 2005

Quarterly estimates for the second and the third quarter of 2004 and monthly estimates for May to October 2004 are presented in this report. Tables 1B, 2B, 3B, and 4B present chain-weighted estimates. Table 1B presents inventories, and table 2B presents sales. Table 3B presents the inventory-sales ratios that can be used to assess the likelihood that businesses will add to, or reduce, inventories in response to changes in demand; these ratios supplement the quarterly current-dollar and real estimates of ratios of inventories to final sales of domestic business, of nonfarm business, and of goods and structures that are presented in NIPA tables 5.7.5B and 5.7.6B. Table 4B presents estimates of manufacturing inventories by stage of fabrication.

The estimates for 1967 forward are available in interactive tables on BEA's Web site at <www.bea.gov>. Click on "Gross Domestic Product," and under "Supplemental Estimates," click on "Underlying detail tables" and then on "List of Underlying Detail Tables."