The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly wholesale trade report for October on Dec. 9 showing industry sales decreased vs. a month earlier, but increased year-over-year.
The figures showed that October sales of merchant wholesalers — except manufacturers’ sales branches and officers, after adjustments for season variations and trading differences but not for price changes — were $675.1 billion. That was down 0.1% from the revised September level, but up 0.9% year-over-year.
| Category & October ‘24 Total | vs. September ’24 | vs. October ‘23 |
| Automotive, $53.5B | +0.4% | +5.9% |
| Furniture, $8.6B | +1.1% | -0.3% |
| Lumber, $17.5B | -1.0% | -3.5% |
| Professional Equipment, $51.1B | -2.8% | +5.1% |
| Computer Equipment, $23.6B | -6.4% | +1.9% |
| Metals, $16.9B | -2.4% | -11.1% |
| Electrical, $76.9B | +1.9% | +13.7% |
| Hardware, $20.3B | -0.5% | +3.4% |
| Machinery, $52.8B | +0.1% | +2.3% |
| Miscellaneous, $27.3B | +1.2% | +0.8% |
Inventories
The report showed that total inventories for merchant wholesalers ended October at $905 billion, up 2% from September’s revised mark (up 0.4%), and up 0.9% year-over-year.
Inventories/Sales Ratio
The September inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers was 1.34, unchanged from October’s ratio.
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-November.
MDM Premium members and members of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors — who now have complimentary access to Premium upon activation here — can access the our new 2024 Annual Economic Outlook Report today from the Premium Dashboard.
Non-MDM Premium members can purchase the report here from the MDM Store.
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