Meanwhile, inventories continued to rise in July, reflecting a steady increase as sales showed a monthly and YoY rebound from June.
The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly wholesale trade report for July on Sept. 9, showing industry sales increased vs. a month earlier, and year-over-year.
The figures showed that July sales of merchant wholesalers — except manufacturers’ sales branches and officers, after adjustment for season variations and trading differences but not for price changes — were $671 billion. That was up 1.1% from the revised June level (which improved 0.4% from May) and up 2.9% year-over-year.
Here’s how July U.S. merchant wholesaler sales fared in durable goods categories:
| Category & July ‘24 Total | vs. June ’24 | vs. July ‘23 |
| Automotive, $52.1B | +0.4% | +5.4% |
| Furniture, $8.8B | +2.2% | -1.1% |
| Lumber, $17.7B | +0.1% | -2.5% |
| Professional Equipment, $51.6B | +1.2% | +6.0% |
| Computer Equipment, $25.0B | +1.4% | +8.0% |
| Metals, $17.4B | -0.2% | -9.6% |
| Electrical, $73.1B | +0.2% | +9.7% |
| Hardware, $20.5B | -0.6% | +7.0% |
| Machinery, $51.4B | +0.8% | -1.8% |
| Miscellaneous, $26.7B | +0.9% | -0.5% |
Inventories
The report showed that total inventories for merchant wholesalers ended July at $903.5 billion, up 0.2% from June’s revised mark (also up 0.2%), and up 0.4% year-over-year.
Inventories/Sales Ratio
The July inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers was 1.35, down from June’s 1.38.
MDM Forecast Update
Stay tuned for the latest monthly MDM Forecast that reflects Census Bureau data through August 2024. Here’s our forecast issued in mid-August.
And, stay tuned for the 2024 MDM Economic Outlook Report, which serves as a comprehensive revenue forecast and benchmarking tool across all of wholesale distribution.
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