How to Read the Census Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales Report — Business Sales, Inventories and the Inventories/Sales Ratio

As of 26 October 2026 (KST); most recently published report: Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales, August 2026, released by the U.S. Census Bureau at 10:00 a.m. EDT on October 15, 2026 (CB26-166). The release says: "The September 2026 Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales Report is scheduled for release on November 17, 2026." The schedule lists releases at 10:00 a.m. Primary source: https://www.census.gov/mtis/www/data/pdf/mtis_current.pdf^[1][3][5]

Comparison basis: Table 1 is in millions of dollars and this page shows levels rounded to $0.1 billion; percentage changes, ratios and margins of error are the published figures, and the ratio changes are this page's subtraction of the published rounded ratios. The adjustment differs between sales and inventories, as the table footnote says: "Adjusted for seasonal variations, trading day differences, and, in the case of sales, for holiday variations." Margins of error are given only for the totals in the release text, and manufacturers have none (see below). The release, tables, release page, definitions and schedule are all from the Census Bureau and count as one source.^[1][2]

In three lines

1. The monthly report combines manufacturers' shipments with retail and wholesale sales, and the matching end-of-month inventories, for the U.S. manufacturing and trade sectors.
2. As published on October 15, 2026, August 2026 sales were an estimated $2,123.5 billion and inventories $2,818.8 billion, an inventories/sales ratio of 1.33 against 1.40 a year earlier.
3. The September 2026 report, with revised wholesale estimates, is due November 17, 2026.^[1]

"The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for August, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $2,123.5 billion, up 1.1 percent (±0.1 percent) from July 2026 and was up 10.2 percent (±0.3 percent) from August 2025." "Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for August, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $2,818.8 billion, up 0.4 percent (±0.1 percent) from July 2026 and were up 4.6 percent (±0.4 percent) from August 2025."^[1]

The ratio. "The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of August was 1.33." "The August 2025 ratio was 1.40." The program's definitions page, in its entry on retail inventories/sales ratios, explains: "These ratios can be looked at as indications of the number of months of inventory that are on hand in relation to the sales for a month."^[1][4]

Where the pieces come from. "Data for the wholesale and manufacturing sectors are unrevised from the most recent Monthly Wholesale Trade Report and the Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and orders." Retail data in the report are revised from the earlier advance report, and "Estimates include data only for businesses with paid employees."^[1]

Current dollars. "Consequently, when comparing estimates to prior years, users also should consider price level changes."^[4]

Sectors vs the total. Manufacturers (658,622 million dollars), retailers (647,440 million) and merchant wholesalers (817,455 million) add up exactly to total business sales of 2,123,517 million in August 2026, and the three inventory figures add up exactly to 2,818,757 million (this page's check of Table 1). Dividing inventories by sales gives 1.3274, which matches the published 1.33 when rounded.^[1][2]

Margins of error vs manufacturers. The release gives margins of error for the total changes; for example sales rose 1.1 percent (±0.1 percent). "If the range contains 0, it is uncertain whether there was an increase or decrease." But "Manufacturers do not contribute to estimates of sampling variability because the manufacturer’s mail panel is not a probability sample from a known frame and standard errors of the industry estimates cannot be calculated."^[1]

Month vs year. Merchant wholesalers' unadjusted month-over-month increase rounded to 0.0% in Table 2 (814,091 to 814,242 million dollars), while adjusted sales rose 1.8% from July, and 15.6% above August 2025 (adjusted, Table 2); the release does not attribute the year-over-year rise to any cause.^[1][2]

Manufacturers' ratio vs retail. The inventories/sales ratio was 1.48 for manufacturers, 1.36 for retailers and 1.18 for merchant wholesalers in August 2026 (Table 1).^[1][2]

The release carries a dated notice: "Revisions to the Retail estimates for sales and inventories were released on September 28, 2026, and are reflected in this release." "Revisions to the Wholesale estimates will be released October 26, 2026, and will be reflected in the September 2026 MTIS release scheduled for November 17, 2026."^[1]

Manufacturing data. "Due to schedule and resource constraints, revised historical data and the seasonal adjustment models for the Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) Survey will remain unchanged for the remainder of 2026."^[1]