US: Manufacturers’ and trade inventories were estimated at $1,888.7 billion

"Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,888.7 billion, virtually unchanged from August 2017, but were up 3.5 percent from September 2016," the U.S. Census Bureau announced on Wednesday.

Key highlights

The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for September was estimated at $1,389.7 billion, up 1.4 percent from August 2017 and was up 6.4 percent from September 2016.

The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of September was 1.36. The September 2016 ratio was 1.40.