The U.S. Census Bureau says the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for October — adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes — was estimated at $1,709.1 billion, up 2.1% from September and up 16.7% from October 2020.

Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for October — adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes — were estimated at an end-of-month level of $2,127.5 billion, up 1.2% from September and were up 7.8% from October 2020.

The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of October was 1.24. The October 2020 ratio was 1.35, according to Census Bureau data.