Waterford Today

Inventories for businesses in the petroleum and coal products industry increase by 1.9 billion, or 5.3 percent, to 37.4 billion in February, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The previous month saw inventories for the same products increase by 6.6 percent.

The Census Bureau provides monthly broad-based data on current economic conditions as well as indicators of future production commitments in manufacturing. The statistics are a good indicator for future economic conditions.

Data is collected from approximately 3,100 companies representing manufacturers with $500 million or more in annual shipments. It is broken down into 89 industry categories of units that may be divisions of diversified companies, homogeneous companies or single-unit manufacturers.

The statistics include the value of shipments as provided by manufacturers, new orders (net of cancellations), end-of-month order backlog/unfilled orders, end-of-month total inventory, materials and supplies, work in progress, and finished goods inventories at current market value or costs.