Economic Trends
U.S. Cutting Tool Orders Tick Down in August, Shipments Hold Steady
October 21, 2026
Economic Trends
Sales of merchant wholesalers, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading day differences but not for price changes, were $652.8 billion.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced the seasonally adjusted quarterly after-tax profits for manufacturing industries statistics for the first quarter of 2022, and wholesale trade has seen a rise from 4Q 2021 to the first quarter of 2022.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that sales of merchant wholesalers — except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading day differences but not for price changes — were $652.8 billion during the month of April, up 0.2% from the revised March level but down 3.4% from the revised April 2022 level.
The February 2023 to March 2023 percent change was revised from the preliminary estimate of down 2.1% to down 2.7%.
Total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading day differences, but not for price changes, were $915.7 billion at the end of April, down 0.1% from the revised March level.
Total inventories were up 6.3% from the revised April 2022 level. The March 2023 to April 2023 percent change was revised from the advance estimate of down 0.2% to down 0.1%, according to the Census Bureau.
The April inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.40. The April 2022 ratio was 1.27.

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