The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly wholesale trade report for June on Aug. 8, showing that industry sales declined vs. a month earlier, but increased year-over-year.
The figures showed the June sales of merchant wholesalers — except manufacturers’ sales branches and officers, after adjustment for season variations and trading differences but not for price changes — were $661.5 billion. That was down 0.6% from the unrevised May level (which improved 0.4% from April) and up 2.4% year-over-year.
Here’s how June U.S. merchant wholesaler sales fared in durable goods categories:
| Category & June ‘24 Total | vs. May ’24 | vs. June ‘23 |
| Automotive, $51.9B | +0.1% | +4.0% |
| Furniture, $8.6B | +2.8% | -4.1% |
| Lumber, $17.7B | +2.2% | -1.5% |
| Professional Equipment, $50.5B | +2.2% | -1.5% |
| Computer Equipment, $43.3B | +1.8% | -0.2% |
| Metals, $17.7B | -2.1% | -11.1% |
| Electrical, $72.9B | +0.0% | +10.4% |
| Hardware, $20.7B | +2.7% | +10.5% |
| Machinery, $51.0B | -0.4% | -2.0% |
| Miscellaneous, $26.2B | +0.7% | +2.6% |
Inventories
The report showed that total inventories for merchant wholesalers ended June at $903 billion, up 0.2% from May’s unrevised mark (also up 0.2%), and up 0.1% year-over-year.
Inventories/Sales Ratio
The June inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers was 1.37, matching May and down from June 2023’s 1.40.
MDM Forecast Update
Stay tuned for the latest monthly MDM Forecast that reflects Census Bureau data through June 2024. Here’s our forecast issued in mid-July.
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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