Wholesale sales outpace inventories in September
U.S. wholesale sales rose 2.8% while inventories increased 0.7%, according to the Census Bureau's new September report.
U.S. wholesale sales rose faster than inventories in September, according to the Census Bureau's report released Monday at 10:00 AM ET. Sales at merchant wholesalers increased 2.8% from the revised August level to $840.1 billion, while inventories rose 0.7% to $1,013.1 billion.
Those are seasonally adjusted dollar estimates, not measures of inflation-adjusted volume. Compared with September 2025, sales were up 19.8% and inventories were up 7.6%.
A lower inventory-to-sales ratio
The inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.21, down from 1.34 a year earlier. The ratio compares the stock of goods held by wholesalers with a month's sales; a lower reading means less inventory relative to the pace of sales.
The monthly inventory gain was revised up from the advance estimate of 0.6% to 0.7%. The report follows the October 26 annual revision, which changed historical sales, inventories and ratios. Today's figures should therefore be compared with the revised series, not an unrevised earlier release.
The data cover merchant wholesalers and exclude manufacturers' sales branches and offices. They are backward-looking September estimates and do not, by themselves, establish the direction of November demand or prices. The next report, covering October, is scheduled for December 9.
