Manufacturing sales of $77B in April missed estimates slightly, but were still up over 4% sequentially - the third big gain in a row…

… led by petroleum products (up 23%) and food (up 3%), though the strength was broad-based. That flowed through to the inventory-to-sales ratio, which hit its lowest level in over three years…

… while unfilled order balances hit a new record, indicating supply-side constraints remain in place.

Wholesale sales were also up for a third month straight, but for different reasons…

… with building materials (steel products) driving the 0.6% gain.

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