The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly wholesale trade report on May 8 for March, showing that industry sales were modestly down month-to-month and up year-over-year.
The figures showed that March sales of merchant wholesalers — except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading day differences but not for price changes — were $662.8 billion. That was down 1.3% from the February mark which was revised up from +2.0% to +2.3%. Year-over-year, March sales were up 1.4%.
Here’s how March U.S. merchant wholesaler sales fared in durable goods categories:
| Category & March ‘24 Total | vs. Feb. | vs. March ‘23 |
| Automotive, $52.4B | -1.9% | +6.8% |
| Furniture, $8.6B | -1.6% | -5.1% |
| Lumber, $18.0B | -0.2% | -1.7% |
| Professional Equipment, $49.2B | +0.2% | +1.9% |
| Commercial Equipment, $23.3B | +1.0% | -1.1% |
| Metals, $18.0B | -4.4% | -12.6% |
| Electrical, $68.4B | -0.7% | +3.9% |
| Hardware, $19.7B | +0.6% | +3.1% |
| Machinery, $52.0B | -0.4% | -0.6% |
| Miscellaneous, $27.1B | -2.6% | +1.5% |
Inventories
The report showed that total inventories for merchant wholesalers ended March at $894.7 billion, down 0.4% from February’s unrevised mark, and down 2.3% year-over-year.
Inventories/Sales Ratio
The March inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers was 1.35, up from February’s 1.34 and down from March 2023’s 1.40.
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