Research
U.S. Census Bureau: Manufacturing and Trade Shipments Drop Slightly in August
The Census Bureau says the combined value of distributive trade sales and shipments and inventories for August was down 0.1% from July.
Offshoring has been a popular strategy for manufacturers and distributors for many years.
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 $1,615.9 billion, which was down 0.1% from July but was up 15.3% from the same month a year ago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
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 $2,083.9 billion, up 0.6% from July 2021 up 7.4% from August 2020
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of August was 1.26. The August 2020 ratio was 1.35.
