U.S. Wholesale Sales Rise 0.8% in July as Inventories Climb 1.3%

U.S. wholesale sales rose in July after a sharp June decline, while inventories increased at a faster pace, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales of merchant wholesalers reached $801.3 billion, up 0.8% from the revised June level and 13.0% from July 2025.

Inventories stood at $958.9 billion at the end of July, up 1.3% from June and 5.7% from a year earlier. The inventories-to-sales ratio was 1.20, compared with 1.28 in July 2025. That means wholesalers were holding less inventory relative to the pace of monthly sales than they were a year earlier, even though the dollar value of inventories was higher.

The Census Bureau’s Monthly Wholesale Trade report covers merchant wholesalers excluding manufacturers’ sales branches and offices. The figures are adjusted for seasonal variation and trading-day differences but not for price changes, an important qualification when comparing categories whose prices can move substantially from one year to the next.

Sales rebound after June’s drop

July’s 0.8% sales increase followed a 2.9% decline in June, which the Census Bureau revised from an initially reported 3.0% drop. The July gain therefore recovered only part of the previous month’s decline. Even so, sales remained well above their year-earlier level, with the 13.0% annual increase reflecting broad gains across several durable and nondurable wholesale categories.

Durable-goods wholesalers reported $403.1 billion in July sales, up 1.1% from June and 16.9% from a year earlier. Nondurable-goods sales were $398.2 billion, up 0.5% for the month and 9.4% from July 2025. The nearly even split between the two major groups masks sizable differences among individual industries.

Among durable-goods businesses, metals wholesalers posted a 5.7% monthly sales increase, while professional and commercial equipment rose 2.4%. Within that group, computer and computer peripheral equipment sales increased 5.0%. Machinery sales rose 2.0%, miscellaneous durable goods increased 1.8%, and hardware sales advanced 1.5%.

Not every durable category participated in the increase. Automotive wholesale sales fell 0.8% in July, and furniture sales declined 1.7%. Lumber sales were up only 0.3%, while electrical-goods sales were virtually unchanged at a 0.1% monthly increase.

Petroleum and farm-product sales add to the monthly gain

The nondurable side also showed a mixed pattern. Farm-product wholesale sales rose 3.2% in July, petroleum sales increased 3.1%, and chemical sales gained 2.5%. Drug sales slipped 0.1%, grocery sales fell 1.5%, paper sales declined 1.3%, alcohol sales dropped 2.0%, and miscellaneous nondurable sales were down 1.2%.

Several categories also recorded large year-over-year increases. Petroleum wholesale sales were 34.0% above July 2025, electrical goods were up 30.8%, metals rose 28.2%, furniture increased 23.0%, computer equipment advanced 22.1%, and farm products were up 19.5%.

Those annual figures are measured in current dollars rather than inflation-adjusted terms. A higher dollar value can reflect changes in prices as well as changes in the quantity of goods sold, so the data do not by themselves show how much real physical volume moved through wholesalers. The distinction is particularly relevant for categories such as petroleum and farm products, where commodity prices can be volatile.

Other Census Bureau data released earlier this month showed a 0.8% increase in manufacturers’ shipments in July and a 0.9% rise in new factory orders. Those figures cover a different part of the supply chain, but together they provide additional context for a month in which wholesale sales also moved higher after June’s pullback.

Inventories grow faster than sales, but remain leaner relative to demand

Wholesale inventories increased more quickly than sales in July. Durable-goods inventories rose 1.1% to $597.2 billion, while nondurable inventories increased 1.6% to $361.7 billion. Petroleum inventories posted the largest monthly rise among the major nondurable categories at 6.5%, followed by farm products at 3.9%. Computer-equipment inventories increased 5.9%, professional-equipment inventories rose 2.7%, and electrical-goods inventories gained 2.3%.

The aggregate inventories-to-sales ratio edged up from 1.19 in June to 1.20 in July. Even with that monthly increase, it remained below the 1.28 ratio recorded a year earlier. Durable wholesalers had a July ratio of 1.48, down from 1.64 in July 2025, while the nondurable ratio was 0.91 compared with 0.93 a year earlier.

The ratio is a simple way to compare the value of goods on hand with the current pace of sales. A reading of 1.20 means wholesalers held inventory worth roughly 1.2 times one month’s sales at July’s seasonally adjusted rate. It does not indicate that every industry had the same level of stock coverage. Machinery wholesalers, for example, carried a much higher ratio of 2.66, while petroleum wholesalers had a ratio of 0.36.

July’s inventory estimate was slightly lower in dollar terms than the $959.1 billion advance estimate released in late August, although the monthly growth rate remained 1.3%. The Census Bureau classifies the current-month estimates as preliminary and revises them as additional information becomes available. The agency said it also expects to revise historical monthly wholesale sales, inventories and inventory-to-sales ratios using corrections and results from the 2023 and 2024 Annual Integrated Economic Survey, with revised estimates tentatively scheduled for October 26.

The next Monthly Wholesale Trade report, covering August, is scheduled for October 8. That release will show whether July’s sales rebound carried into the following month and whether inventories continued to rise faster than sales.