Economic Trends

October U.S. Wholesale Sales Decline Accelerated as Inventories Rise

We break down the latest key industry figures, including a new look at year-to-date vs. year-over-year look at wholesale sales by NAICS product category.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly wholesale trade report on Dec. 8, which showed a notable decline in October’s wholesale sales — especially for durable goods — that doubled a more modest decline in September.

The report showed that October sales of merchant wholesalers — except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustments or seasonal variations and trading day differences, but not for price changes — were $704.9 billion, down 0.4% from September, but up 4.6% year-over-year.

It follows September’s 0.2% month-over-month decrease.

Within wholesale sales, October durable goods sales fell 0.6% month-over-month (up 5.0% YoY), matching September, while nondurable sales fell 0.2% month-to-month (+4.2% YoY) after a 0.2% gain in September.

Inventories & Inventory/Sales Ratio

Meanwhile, wholesale inventories posted another increase during October, rising 0.2% month-over-month (+1.7% YoY) and September’s total was revised up to a 0.5% increase (from 0.4%). October durable goods inventories fell 0.2% month-over-month (flat YoY) after a 0.1% September uptick, while nondurable inventories jumped 0.8% month-over-month (+4.7% YoY) after September’s 1.1% increase.

U.S. Wholesale Inventories Month-Over-Month % Change

The October inventories-to-sales ratio for wholesalers was 1.30, up from September’s 1.29 and down from 1.33 of a year earlier. In durable goods, October’s ratio of 1.66 ticked up from September’s 1.65 and trailed the 1.74 of a year earlier, while the nondurable ratio of 0.96 likewise edged up from September’s 0.95 and the 0.95 of a year earlier.

October Wholesale Sales & Inventory by Product Category

Here’s a year-to-date and year-over-year look at how wholesale sales fared by NAICS product category through October 2025.

And click on the chart below to see how seasonally adjusted wholesale trade sales, inventories and inventories/sales ratios of durable and nondurable goods categories fared in October on both a month-over-month and year-over-year basis.