US Wholesale Inventories

Data Macro

Source: Census Bureau
Source Link: https://www.census.gov/
Frequency: Monthly
Next Release(s): January 29th, 2026 10:00 AM

Latest Updates

U.S. wholesale sales declined -0.4% MoM in October 2025 but rose +4.6% YoY, indicating a modest monthly pullback alongside solid annual growth.
- Merchant wholesaler sales fell to $704.9 billion in October (-0.4% MoM), extending the soft monthly trend following a -0.2% MoM decline in September that was unrevised from the preliminary estimate.
- On a YoY basis, wholesale sales increased +4.6%, underscoring stronger activity compared with October 2024 despite recent month-to-month weakness.
- Total wholesale inventories increased +0.2% MoM to $913.5 billion, showing continued but moderate inventory accumulation.
- Durable inventories fell -0.2% MoM while non-durable inventories increased 0.8% MoM (following a 1.1% MoM rise in November).
- Farm product inventories jumped 3.2% MoM (after a 4.5% MoM increase in November) but are still down -4.3% YoY.
- Inventories were up +1.7% YoY, indicating slower stock growth than sales over the past year.
- The inventories-to-sales ratio edged up to 1.30 in October, compared with 1.33 a year earlier, suggesting inventories remain leaner relative to sales than in October 2024.
- The combination of falling MoM sales and rising inventories contributed to the slight uptick in the inventory-to-sales ratio from September’s level.
U.S. wholesale sales slipped -0.2% MoM to $708.2 billion in September 2025 but were up +4.8% YoY, showing a modest monthly pullback alongside solid annual growth.
- Sales for August were revised downward from +0.1% MoM to -0.2% MoM, indicating weaker late summer momentum than initially reported.
- Wholesale inventories rose +0.5% MoM to $911.5 billion and increased +1.8% YoY, pointing to gradual stock accumulation compared with last year.
- Nondurable inventories increased 0.7% MoM and 3.8% YoY, driven by a 1.9% MoM and 7.1% MoM increase in drug inventories. Durable inventories increased 0.3% MoM and 0.6% YoY.
- The inventory-to-sales ratio increased to 1.29 in September, down from 1.33 a year earlier, suggesting inventories have tightened relative to sales over the past year.
- Despite the soft MoM sales figure, the +4.8% YoY increase underscores continued demand strength compared with September 2024.
- Inventory growth outpaced the monthly decline in sales, contributing to the slight uptick in the inventory-to-sales ratio from August’s level.
U.S. wholesale sales edged up +0.1% MoM in August 2025 to $711.1 billion, rising +6.1% YoY, reflecting a modest monthly increase alongside solid annual growth.
- Wholesale inventories were $907.9 billion, essentially flat MoM (0.0%) and up +1.1% YoY, indicating broadly stable stock levels compared with July.
- Durable goods inventories increased 0.1% MoM (but were down -0.2% YoY), offset by a nondurable goods inventories decline of -0.1% MoM (but were up 3.3% YoY).
- The June to July sales revision was adjusted to +1.3% MoM (from +1.4%), showing only a slight change in previously reported momentum.
- The July to August inventory change was revised from a preliminary 0.2% MoM to effectively unchanged, emphasizing limited month-to-month movement.
- The inventories-to-sales ratio held at 1.28 in August, down from 1.34 a year earlier, suggesting leaner inventories relative to stronger sales levels.
U.S. wholesale sales rose +1.4% MoM to $711.3 billion in July 2025, up +6.2% YoY, while inventories edged higher by +0.1% MoM and +1.3% YoY, pushing the inventories-to-sales ratio down to 1.28 from 1.34 a year earlier.
- Durable goods inventories fell -0.2% MoM and were down -0.1% YoY in July, and nondurable goods inventories increased 0.7% MoM and 3.6% YoY.
- Auto inventories continued to drop, down -1.6% MoM and -7.7% YoY in July, partially offset by a 0.6% MoM increase in machinery inventories (down -1.2% YoY).
- Non-durable inventory categories continue to be volatile, including groceries, which were up 2.0% MoM and 13.3% YoY.
- The inventories-to-sales ratio fell to 1.28 in July from 1.34 a year earlier, signaling leaner inventories relative to demand.
U.S. wholesale inventories rose +0.1% MoM to $906.3 billion in June 2025, while sales increased +0.3% MoM to $698.5 billion.
- On a YoY basis, inventories were up 1.3% and sales rose 5.5%, pushing the inventories-to-sales ratio down to 1.30 from 1.35 a year earlier.
- May sales were revised down to -0.4% MoM (from -0.3%), while inventories were confirmed at -0.3% MoM.
- Durable goods inventories increased just 0.1% MoM in June after the -0.7% MoM drop in May.
- Nondurable goods inventories were also up 0.1% MoM in June, building on the 0.4% MoM increase in May.
- Auto inventories fell -1.2% MoM for the second straight month and were down -4.7% YoY.
- The inventories-to-sales ratio held steady at 1.30 MoM, but fell -0.05 pts YoY, indicating leaner inventories relative to stronger sales.
- This marks the fourth straight month of YoY inventory-to-sales ratio declines, as demand continues to outpace stock rebuilding.
U.S. wholesale inventories fell -0.3% MoM in May 2025 to $905.5B, while sales declined -0.3% MoM to $697.2B. Year over year, inventories rose 1.4% and sales increased 4.8%, lowering the inventories-to-sales ratio to 1.30 from 1.34 in May 2024.
- Durable goods inventories fell -0.8% MoM but rose 0.1% YoY, led by drops in automotive (-1.5% MoM, -2.6% YoY) and machinery (-0.8% MoM, -2.0% YoY).
- Nondurable goods inventories rose 0.5% MoM and 3.9% YoY, with strong gains in drugs (+1.8% MoM, +5.1% YoY) and petroleum (+2.5% MoM, -8.1% YoY).
- The inventories-to-sales ratio remained flat MoM at 1.30, but down from 1.34 YoY, signaling leaner stockpiles relative to demand.
Wholesale inventories rose 0.2% MoM and 2.3% YoY in April to $908.7B, while sales increased 0.1% MoM and 6.0% YoY. The inventories-to-sales ratio fell to 1.30 from 1.34 a year earlier.
- Durable goods inventories increased 0.1% MoM and 1.3% YoY; nondurable goods inventories rose 0.3% MoM and 4.2% YoY.
- Computer equipment inventories rose 2.7% MoM and 20.7% YoY, continuing a strong upward trend.
- Petroleum inventories dropped -7.1% MoM and -15.4% YoY, the largest decline among major categories.
- Grocery inventories increased 1.4% MoM and 11.5% YoY, supporting strong demand trends.
- Farm product inventories declined -0.6% MoM but were up 15.4% YoY.
Wholesale inventories increased 0.4% MoM (vs 0.5% MoM expected) in March, building on the upwardly revised growth of 0.5% MoM in February (vs preliminary estimate of 0.3% MoM).
- Durable wholesale inventories increased 0.6% MoM, and nondurable wholesale inventories increased 0.1% MoM.
- Auto inventories increased 1.2% MoM, and machinery inventories were up 0.6% MoM. Both drove the top line gain in wholesale inventories.
- Within nondurables, pharmaceutical drug inventories increased 1.0% MoM but that was offset by drops in farm product inventories (-2.4% MoM) and apparel inventories (-0.8% MoM).
- The inventory-to-sales ratio was unchanged at 1.30x but was down from 1.35x a year ago. The durable inventory-to-sales ratio has fallen from 1.81x in March 2024 to 1.69x in March 2025.
US wholesale inventories increased 0.3% MoM (vs 0.3% MoM expected) in February, following an 0.8% MoM increase in January.
- Total wholesale sales jumped 2.4% MoM in February, reversing the -0.9% MoM decline in January.
- Durable inventories increased 0.2% MoM, and nondurable inventories increased 0.5% MoM.
- On an annual basis, inventories are up 1.1% YoY with durables up 0.4% YoY and nondurables up 2.3% YoY.
- The inventories/sales ratio fell to 1.30x (vs 1.36x previously) as a result of the strong increase in wholesale sales.
Wholesale inventories jumped 0.8% MoM in January, slightly above the advance estimate of 0.7% MoM and the largest monthly increase since August 2022.
- Durable goods inventories increased 0.9% MoM including large increases in professional equipment (+1.8% MoM), lumber (+1.5% MoM), and electrical goods (+1.2% MoM).
- Nondurable goods inventories increased 0.7% MoM with a large build in farm product inventories (+3.7% MoM).
- The overall inventories/sales ratio increased from 1.30x in December to 1.33x in January.
- Nondurable inventories/sales ratio has been volatile, increasing from 1.69x in December to 1.75x in January which is down from 1.81x a year ago.
Wholesale inventories fell -0.5% MoM, in line with expectations, and -0.1% YoY in December as sales saw two strong months of growth to end 2024.
- Durable inventories fell -0.6% MoM for the second straight month as auto inventories fell.
- Auto inventories saw another strong draw of -0.6% MoM. However, a -5.1% MoM decline in auto sales meant that the auto inventories/sales ratio increased to 1.81x in December from 1.73x in November.
- Nondurable inventories fell -0.2% MoM after a strong 0.8% MoM build in the previous month. Nondurable sales were up 1.9% MoM in December which pushed the inventories/sales ratio down -0.02 pts to 0.95x.
- The broad wholesale inventories/sales ratio is down from 1.35x a year ago to 1.31x.
US wholesale inventories fell -0.2% MoM while sales jumped 0.6% MoM in November.
- This dropped the inventories/sales ratio down from 1.34x to 1.33x.
- The large increase in sales came from strong increases in hardware (+3.4% MoM), computer equipment (+4.9% MoM), and machinery (+2.2% MoM) sales.
- The durable goods inventories/sales ratio fell to 1.72x, down from 1.75x in October and down from 1.81x in November 2023.