Sales for US merchant wholesalers, excluding manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, reached $666.7 billion in May 2024, marking a 0.4 per cent increase from the revised April level and a 1.9 per cent rise from the revised May 2023 figure, according to the US Census Bureau. The March 2024 to April 2024 per cent change was also revised from the preliminary estimate of a 0.1 per cent increase to a 0.2 per cent increase.

Inventories for merchant wholesalers, excluding manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, totalled $901.7 billion at the end of May, reflecting a 0.6 per cent increase from the revised April level. However, total inventories were down by 0.5 per cent compared to the revised May 2023 level. The per cent change from April 2024 to May 2024 remained consistent with the advance estimate of a 0.6 per cent increase.

The inventories-to-sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, excluding manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, was 1.35 in May 2024, based on seasonally adjusted data. This is a slight decrease from the May 2023 ratio of 1.39, as per the bureau.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)