The US Census Bureau announced today the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for August, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,461.9 billion, up 0.5 percent (±0.1 percent) from July 2018 and was up 7.8 percent (±1.2 percent) from August 2017.
Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,960.8 billion, up 0.5 percent (±0.1 percent) from July 2018 and were up 4.2 percent (±1.2 percent) from August 2017.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of August was 1.34. The August 2017 ratio was 1.39.