Building permits in April 2010 were 606,000, a decrease of 11.5% from March but 15.9% above the April 2009 estimate. Housing starts rose 5.8% from the prior month, to 672,000. This was 40.9% above the April 2009 level.
Business inventories rose 0.4% in March 2010 from February, but were still 5.0% below their level in March 2009. Sales increased 2.3% in March 2010 from the prior month and were 11.9% above their level a year ago.
Retail and food services sales in April 2010 increased 0.4% to $366.4 billion from March. This was up 8.8% from the April 2009 level. Excluding autos, retail and food services sales rose 7.6% from the prior year, to $303.5 billion.
The U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services in March 2010 increased 2.5%, to $40.4 billion. Exports increased 3.2%, to $147.9 billion, and imports increased 3.1%, to $188.3 billion.
Wholesale inventories in March 2010 increased by 0.4% from February to $394.8 billion and were down 5.3% from a year ago. Sales increased in March by 2.4%, to $348.0 billion, and are 15.8% higher than a year ago.
