January 2009 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $326.1 billion, down 2.9 percent from the revised December level and were down 15.4 percent from January 2008, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
 
January sales of durable goods were down 6.5 percent from last month and were down 17.3 percent from a year ago. Compared with last month, sales of machinery, equipment, and supplies were down 10.8 percent. Sales of nondurable goods were up 0.3 percent from last month, but were down 13.7 percent from last year. Sales of chemicals and allied products were down 4.9 percent from last month, while sales of drugs and druggists’ …