U.S. Economy: Wholesalers Start Stocking Up Goods Before Y2K

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Washington, Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. wholesale inventories rose in September for the eighth straight month as suppliers anticipated shortages that could be caused by Year 2000-related problems and as factories worked to rebuild deplete stocks.

Inventories grew 0.7 percent in September after rising 0.5 percent in August, the Commerce Department said. The increase was led by stocks of crops, electrical equipment and imported autos.

Compared with last year, wholesale inventories rose 4.8 percent. That's almost half of the 9.3 percent year-over-year gain in sales reported by wholesalers, suggesting they are struggling to keep enough goods on hand to meet demand. ``Inventory levels are very, very lean,'' said Jeffrey Palma, economist at Warburg, Dillon, Read in Greenwich, Connecticut. ``In addition to the Y2K concerns, you're seeing buildup because the stocks are so low.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/bbn/econtop.html?s=40746f1c3d635b179f0b11b7417350f6

Check out the last line.............``Inventory levels are very, very lean,'' JIT.........

-- kevin (innxxs@yahoo.com), November 09, 1999


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