The U.S. Census Bureau released its monthly wholesale trade report on May 8, reflecting results through March, which showed another considerable sales and inventories increase that was powered by petroleum products — undoubtedly tied to impacts from the Iran war that began on Feb. 28.

The report showed that March 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 $772 billion, up 2.8% from the revised February level and up 10.9% year-over-year. February’s total was revised down to a 2.6% monthly gain (from 2.7%).

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Within March’s wholesale sales data, durable goods sales increased 0.3% month-over-month and 12.2% year-over-year, while nondurable goods sales jumped 5.3% MoM and 9.7% YoY. The monthly nondurable gain was powered by a 23.9% spike in petroleum products.

Here’s a year-over-year look at how March wholesale sales fared month-over-month and year-over-year by NAICS product category, seasonally-adjusted:

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Year-to-Date Sales

With three months of data in the books, here’s how U.S. wholesale sales have fared year-to-date in 2026 vs. 2025

Inventories

Total wholesale inventories jumped another 1.3% in March month-over-month and 2.9% year-over-year. February’s monthly figure was revised up to 1.4% (from 1.3%). Oil & Gas inventories soared 33.9% during March after advancing only 5.5% in February, evidence that wholesalers in that category frontloaded on stocks in advance of projected price surges.

Here’s a look at how March wholesale inventories fared month-over-month and year-over-year by NAICS product category.

Inventories/Sales Ratio

The seasonally-adjusted March inventories/sales ratio for wholesalers was 1.21, dipping further from February’s 1.23 and the 1.30 of a year earlier — meaning that sales are outpacing inventories.

Here’s a look at how March’s inventories/sales ratio fared month-over-month and year-over-year by NAICS product category.