Domestic apparel shipments grew at double-digit rates for the seventh month in a row in Febuary, increasing 12% to $1.4 billion, helped by a US retail apparel market that increasingly values the ability to replenish inventory on a more accurate and timely basis. However, the rate of increase was the smallest in the past seven months. 
Textile mill shipments fell for the fifth month in a row, dropping almost 7% to $2.5 billion. Textile product shipments rose 3% to $1.9 billion.
Apparel manufacturing shipments rose 12% to $1.5 billion on a smoothed annualized basis. Wholesale apparel shipments increased 7% to $11.5 billion. The Inventory to Sales Ratio rose slightly for apparel manufacturing and textile milles, but fell for textile products and wholesale apparel in the past month.
| Sales $ | Feb-12 | Jan-12 | Feb-11 |
| Apparel Manufacturing | 1,438 | 1,469 | 1,243 |
| Textile Mills | 2,485 | 2,519 | 2,626 |
| Textile Products | 1,894 | 1,905 | 1,843 |
| Wholesale Apparel | 11,523 | 11,480 | 11,034 |
| Inventory $ (EOM) | |||
| Apparel Manufacturing | 2,750 | 2,735 | 2,377 |
| Textile Mills | 3,604 | 3,621 | 3,333 |
| Textile Products | 3,040 | 3,125 | 2,911 |
| Wholesale Apparel | 21,864 | 22,698 | 19,735 |
| Inventory to Sales Ratio | |||
| Apparel Manufacturing | 1.91 | 1.86 | 1.91 |
| Textile Mills | 1.45 | 1.44 | 1.27 |
| Textile Products | 1.61 | 1.64 | 1.58 |
| Wholesale Apparel | 1.90 | 1.98 | 1.79 |
