Business inventories rise in line with expectations in July

Sales
The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for July, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,652.2 billion, up 0.5 percent (±0.1 percent) from June 2021 and was up 16.3 percent (±0.6 percent) from July 2020.

Inventories
Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for July, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for
price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $2,069.5 billion, up 0.5 percent (±0.1 percent) from June 2021 and were up 7.2 percent (±0.5 percent) from July 2020.

Inventories/Sales Ratio
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of July was 1.25. The July 2020 ratio was 1.36.