Economic Trends
U.S. Cutting Tool Orders Tick Down in August, Shipments Hold Steady
October 21, 2026
Economic Trends
Trade Sales and Manufacturers’ Shipments Drop in December
The Census Bureau says the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for December dropped 0.7% from November.
Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for January 2023 were down 0.1% from December 2022 — but up 11.1% from January 2022.
The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for December 2021 — adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes — was estimated at $1,717.2 billion, down 0.7% from November, but was up 15.9% from December 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for December — adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes — were estimated at an end-of-month level of $2,206.7 billion, up 2.1% from November 2021 and were up 10.5 percent% from December 2020.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of December was 1.29. The December 2020 ratio was 1.35, the Census Bureau said.
