The US Census Bureau reported Friday that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers' shipments for August was $1.2 trillion, a 0.3 percent increase from July and 11.8 percent higher than August 2010. US manufacturing inventories were up 0.5 percent to $1.5 trillion from July to August and rose 10.5 percent year-on-year.
Manufacturing sales in Canada rose as well in August, according to a report Friday from Statistics Canada. Manufacturing sales rose 1.4 percent to $47.6 billion in August, the highest level since October 2008. Inventory levels edged up 0.3 percent to $63.5 billion in August.