Inventories in Australia were down a seasonally adjusted 1.2 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the previous three months, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, standing at A$119.34 billion.
That compared with analyst expectations that had forecast a 1.4 percent quarterly decline following the 1.9 percent fall in the fourth quarter of 2008. On an annualized basis, inventories were down 1.1 percent.
Manufacturing sales were down 2.8 percent on quarter, while wholesale trade was unchanged.
The data also showed that companies' profits were down 7.2 percent - defying forecasts for a 5 percent fall after the 6.5 percent decline in the previous three months.
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June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.