B. INVENTORIES:

The amount of inventories valued on the LIFO basis was $25,031,000 and $27,394,000 as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, and consists of housewares/small appliance finished goods. Under LIFO, inventories are valued at approximately $2,585,000 and $3,028,000 below current cost determined on a first-in, first-out (FIFO) basis at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014, $2,451,000, $0, and $7,181,000, respectively, of a LIFO layer was liquidated. The Company uses the LIFO method of inventory accounting to improve the matching of costs and revenues for the Housewares/Small Appliance segment.

The following table describes that which would have occurred if LIFO inventories had been valued at current cost determined on a FIFO basis:



Increase (Decrease) – (In thousands, except per share data)
Year	Cost of Sales		Net Earnings		Earnings Per Share
2016	$	443	$	(292)	$	(0.04)
2015	$	763	$	(505)	$	(0.07)
2014	$	643	$	(422)	$	(0.06)

This information is provided for comparison with companies using the FIFO basis.

Inventory for Defense and raw materials of the Housewares/Small Appliance segments are valued under the FIFO method and total $70,372,000 and $61,515,000 at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The December 31, 2016 FIFO total is comprised of $169,000 of finished goods, $66,528,000 of work in process, and $3,675,000 of raw material. At December 31, 2015 the FIFO total was comprised of $371,000 of finished goods, $57,397,000 of work in process, and $3,747,000 of raw material.