Wholesale inventories in December 2010 were $430.5 billion, up 1.0 percent from November and up 10.5 percent from one year ago. Sales were $371.5 billion, up 0.4 percent from the prior month and up 11.6 percent from the prior year.
Construction spending in December 2010 was $787.9 billion, 2.5 percent below November 2010 and 6.4 percent below December 2009. The annual value of construction for the full year 2010 was $814.2 billion, 10.3 percent below 2009.
New orders for manufactured durable goods in December fell 2.5%, to $191.0 billion. Excluding transportation, new orders rose 0.5%. Shipments increased 1.4%, to $200.4 billion. Unfilled orders decreased 0.4%, to $822.8 billion. Inventories of manufactured durable goods in December increased 0.7%, to $322.0 billion.
Sales of new single-family homes in December 2010 were 329,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 17.5% above the revised November level, but 7.6% below their year-ago level.
Building permits in December 2010 were 635,000, up 16.7% from November but down 6.8% from December 2009. Housing starts were 529,000 in December 2010, down 4.3% from the prior month and 8.2% below December 2009.
