<HR><H3>• US. Businesss Sales, Inventories – January 2013</H3>

Sales. The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for January, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,268.8 billion, down 0.3 percent (±0.3%) from December 2012 and up 2.9 percent (±0.4%) from January 2012. Inventories. Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,642.2 billion, up 1.0 percent (±0.2%) from December 2012 and up 5.6 percent (±0.5%) from January 2012. Inventories/Sales Ratio. The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of January was 1.29. The January 2012 ratio was 1.26. Source: USDOC-Census

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