Trade Inventories Rose 0.6% in August

Washington, DC, October 16, 2020-The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for August was estimated at $1,452.4 billion, up 0.6% from July 2020, but was down 0.4% from August 2019, according the U.S. Census Bureau.

Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for August were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,919.2 billion, up 0.3% from July 2020, but were down 5.5% from August 2019.

The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of August was 1.32. The August 2019 ratio was 1.39.