Distrib. Trade Sales & Manu. Shipments Slipped 0.1% in October

Washington, DC, December 13, 2019-The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for October was estimated at $1,456.0 billion, down 0.1% from September 2019 and was down 0.1% from October 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Manufacturers’ and trade inventories were estimated at an end-of-month level of $2,042.8 billion, up 0.2% from September 2019 and were up 3.1% from October 2018.

The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of October was 1.40. The October 2018 ratio was 1.36.