Monthly Wholesale Trade: Sales and Inventories   CHART

October 2009 sales of merchant wholesalers were $326.2 billion, up 1.2 percent (+/-0.7%) from last month. End-of-month inventories were $379.6 billion, up 0.3 percent (+/-0.5%) from last month.

Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders   CHART

New orders for manufactured goods in October increased $2.1 billion or 0.6 percent to $360.5 billion.

Construction Spending   CHART

Total construction activity for October 2009 ($910.8 billion) was nearly the same as the revised September 2009 ($910.4 billion). Please see our web site for further details: http://www.census.gov/constructionspending

New Home Sales   CHART

Sales of new one-family houses in October 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000. This is 6.2% above the revised September 2009 estimate of 405,000.

Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, and Orders   CHART

New orders for manufactured durable goods in October decreased $1.0 billion or 0.6 percent to $166.2 billion.

Housing Starts/Building Permits   CHART

Privately-owned housing starts in October 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000. This is 10.6 percent below the revised September 2009 estimate of 592,000.

Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales   CHART

U.S. total business sales for September 2009 were $988.1 billion, down 0.3% from last month. Month end inventories were $1,303.3 billion, down 0.4% from last month.

Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services   CHART

U.S. retail and food service sales for October reached $347.5 billion, an increase of 1.4 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month.

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services   CHART

The Nation's international trade deficit in goods and services increased to $36.5 billion in September from $30.8 billion (revised) in August, as imports increased more than exports.

Housing Vacancies and Homeownership   CHART

Homeownership Rate (HR)
The homeownership rate (67.6 percent) for the current quarter was not statistically different from the third quarter 2008 rate (67.9 percent) or from last quarter's rate (67.4 percent).

Rental Vacancy Rate (RVR)
The rental vacancy rate in third quarter 2009 (11.1 percent) was higher than the third quarter 2008 rate (9.9 percent).

Homeowner Vacancy Rate (HVR)
The homeowner vacancy rate in third quarter 2009 (2.6 percent) was lower than the third quarter 2008 rate (2.8 percent).

Quarterly Financial Report - Retail Trade   CHART

After-tax profits for retail corporations with assets greater than $50 million averaged 2.7 cents per dollar of sales for the second quarter 2009 (the 3 months ending Jul. 31, 2009), up 1.2 (+/- 0.1) cents from the after-tax profits average of 1.5 cents for the first quarter 2009 (the 3 months ending Apr. 30, 2009).

Quarterly Financial Report - Manufacturing, Mining and Trade   CHART

Manufacturing corporations' seasonally adjusted after-tax profits averaged 4.3 cents per dollar of sales for the second quarter of 2009, up 1.6 (+/- 0.1) cents from the after-tax profits average of 2.8 cents for the first quarter of 2009.

Quarterly Services Survey   CHART

U.S. Information sector revenue for the second quarter of 2009, adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes, was $274.3 billion, a decrease of 0.4 percent (+/- 0.5) from the first quarter of 2009.