The U.S. Census Bureau announced the following new manufacturing and trade statistics for May 2018: Sales The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for May, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,449.7 billion, up 1.4 percent (±0.2 percent) from April 2018 and was up 8.6 percent (±1.2 percent) from May 2017. Inventories Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,936.9 billion, up 0.4 percent (±0.1 percent) from April 2018 and ... (full story)