The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly wholesale trade report for November on Jan. 8, showing industry sales increased vs. a month earlier, and increased year-over-year. Meanwhile, inventories declined.
The figure showed that November sales of merchant wholesalers — except manufacturers’ sales branches and officers, after adjustments for season variations and trading differences but not for price changes — were $678 billion. That was up 0.6% from the revised October level, and up 2.0% year-over-year.
| Category & November ‘24 Total | vs. October ’24 | vs. November ‘23 |
| Automotive, $54.2B | +1.6% | +4.6% |
| Furniture, $9.0B | +3.5% | +3.2% |
| Lumber, $18.1B | +2.7% | +0.4% |
| Professional Equipment, $51.9B | +1.4% | +4.7% |
| Computer Equipment, $25.2B | +4.9% | +5.7% |
| Metals, $17.4B | +2.5% | -8.2% |
| Electrical, $78.7B | +0.5% | +21.8% |
| Hardware, $21.0B | +3.4% | +9.7% |
| Machinery, $54.1B | +2.2% | +4.7% |
| Miscellaneous, $27.1B | -0.3% | -0.1% |
Inventories
The report showed that total inventories for merchant wholesalers ended November at $901.6 billion, down 0.2% from October’s revised mark (up 0.4%), and up 0.8% year-over-year.
Inventories/Sales Ratio
The November inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers was 1.33, down from October’s ratio but up from November 2023’s 1.35.
In the Store: MDM’s U.S. MRO Market Trends Report
MDM Forecast Update
Stay tuned for the latest monthly MDM Forecast that reflects Census Bureau data through November 2024. Here’s our forecast issued in mid-December.
MDM Premium members and members of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors — who now have complimentary access to Premium upon activation here — can access our 2024 Annual Economic Outlook Report today from the Premium Dashboard. Non-Premium members can purchase the report here from the MDM Store.
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