Wholesale Inventories Rise

Wholesale inventories rose 0.6 percent in July in a welcome build that will not only help third-quarter GDP but will narrow the gap with underlying sales. Sales at the wholesale level were unchanged in July for a year-on-year rise, however, of 9.8 percent which is nearly double the rise in inventories at 5.0 percent.

Checking tariff effects, inventories of metals at the wholesale level are showing significant distortions, rising 3.1 percent in July on top of a 4.2 percent rise in June. Year-on-year, metals inventories are up 22.4 percent.