What does the US business inventories and sales table measure?

It measures total business sales and inventories across manufacturing, wholesale, and retail sectors in the United States, along with the inventory-to-sales ratio.

How frequently is this data released and what is the historical coverage?

The data is published monthly by the Census Bureau via FRED, with historical records dating back to 1992.

Which sectors are broken down in the inventory and sales data?

The table covers manufacturing, wholesale, and retail trade sectors in the United States for both sales and inventories.

What is the inventory-to-sales ratio in this context?

The inventory-to-sales ratio measures how many months it would take for businesses in the United States to clear their existing inventories at the current sales pace.

US Business Inventories and Sales

Name: US Business Inventories and Sales
Creator: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

US monthly business sales, inventories, and the inventory-to-sales ratio from the Census Bureau.

Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)Last updated: Sep 21, 2026, 14:16Curated by Bui Thanh PhucAbout this data ↓

Indicator	07-2026	06-2026	05-2026	04-2026	03-2026	02-2026	01-2026	12-2025	11-2025	10-2025	09-2025	08-2025	07-2025	06-2025	05-2025	04-2025	03-2025	02-2025	01-2025	12-2024	11-2024	10-2024	09-2024	08-2024	07-2024	06-2024	05-2024	04-2024	03-2024	02-2024	01-2024	12-2023	11-2023	10-2023	09-2023	08-2023	07-2023
Total Business Sales3	2,120,749	2,113,659	2,135,487	2,091,473	2,062,117	2,017,272	1,981,191	1,968,756	1,955,217	1,943,249	1,946,691	1,948,357	1,947,836	1,925,663	1,908,382	1,919,411	1,922,378	1,910,029	1,890,050	1,904,133	1,888,646	1,877,521	1,877,494	1,867,808	1,872,821	1,854,041	1,855,956	1,851,860	1,844,217	1,847,926	1,829,619	1,850,014	1,845,684	1,850,822	1,871,052	1,849,758	1,824,344
Manufacturing Sales	658,833	653,505	653,231	642,896	634,727	625,094	614,476	610,055	606,008	607,176	606,522	606,847	608,530	602,992	599,560	598,633	600,663	602,132	598,328	596,142	593,730	590,720	592,881	593,766	597,331	591,770	590,334	595,413	590,400	587,042	584,255	590,118	587,708	588,017	597,455	593,496	585,630
Retail Sales	660,638	665,247	663,604	657,830	653,772	641,038	634,949	634,830	634,477	631,346	632,395	632,149	628,747	621,374	616,540	624,272	625,420	616,636	615,145	621,713	616,344	612,772	608,774	603,601	605,814	599,979	600,372	595,676	595,969	593,206	588,944	594,256	593,567	595,517	598,956	595,191	589,257
Wholesale Sales	801,278	794,907	818,652	790,747	773,618	751,140	731,766	723,871	714,732	704,727	707,774	709,361	710,559	701,297	692,282	696,506	696,295	691,261	676,577	686,278	678,572	674,029	675,839	670,441	669,676	662,292	665,250	660,771	657,848	667,678	656,420	665,640	664,409	667,288	674,641	661,071	649,457
Total Business Inventories3	2,764,708	2,742,533	2,739,202	2,728,142	2,712,902	2,686,289	2,676,882	2,676,717	2,677,084	2,676,595	2,670,511	2,663,591	2,664,749	2,660,978	2,654,351	2,654,533	2,656,006	2,653,219	2,649,512	2,638,369	2,646,596	2,640,959	2,637,086	2,635,958	2,628,273	2,618,815	2,611,183	2,599,646	2,590,962	2,594,839	2,585,336	2,591,108	2,577,995	2,583,446	2,587,291	2,580,885	2,573,912
Manufacturing Inventories	966,871	963,357	962,037	959,836	956,676	950,428	949,640	949,081	948,592	947,012	946,694	947,640	948,226	946,202	944,036	943,249	944,064	943,013	941,981	941,027	938,291	934,085	934,025	935,844	934,978	935,183	936,426	935,587	934,012	933,569	932,239	933,564	934,300	934,863	935,124	934,176	931,694
Retail Inventories	838,983	832,489	834,052	827,634	821,654	815,418	815,340	813,286	812,779	816,106	812,285	808,568	808,517	807,816	805,184	803,306	805,571	807,065	807,516	805,639	809,726	808,813	807,342	801,673	796,555	789,170	781,647	776,049	769,013	768,561	763,660	761,624	753,307	755,739	754,997	750,678	744,348
Wholesale Inventories	958,854	946,687	943,113	940,672	934,572	920,443	911,902	914,350	915,713	913,477	911,532	907,383	908,006	906,960	905,131	907,978	906,371	903,141	900,015	891,703	898,579	898,061	895,719	898,441	896,740	894,462	893,110	888,010	887,937	892,709	889,437	895,920	890,388	892,844	897,170	896,031	897,870
Inventories-to-Sales Ratio	1.3	1.3	1.28	1.3	1.32	1.33	1.35	1.36	1.37	1.38	1.37	1.37	1.37	1.38	1.39	1.38	1.38	1.39	1.4	1.39	1.4	1.41	1.4	1.41	1.4	1.41	1.41	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.41	1.4	1.4	1.4	1.38	1.4	1.41

Latest reading

Inventories-to-Sales Ratio stood at 1.3 Times in Jul 2026. That is unchanged from Jun 2026 and −5.1% from a year earlier. The series on this page is monthly and runs from Jan 1992 to Jul 2026. Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis).

Latest: 1.3 Times; Jul 2026
vs previous period: 0.0%; Jun 2026
vs a year earlier: −5.1%

About this data

US monthly business sales, inventories, and the inventory-to-sales ratio from the Census Bureau. This table tracks total business sales and inventories alongside manufacturing, retail, and wholesale breakdowns. Data is available monthly since 1992 via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Frequently asked questions

What does the US business inventories and sales table measure?: It measures total business sales and inventories across manufacturing, wholesale, and retail sectors in the United States, along with the inventory-to-sales ratio.
How frequently is this data released and what is the historical coverage?: The data is published monthly by the Census Bureau via FRED, with historical records dating back to 1992.
Which sectors are broken down in the inventory and sales data?: The table covers manufacturing, wholesale, and retail trade sectors in the United States for both sales and inventories.
What is the inventory-to-sales ratio in this context?: The inventory-to-sales ratio measures how many months it would take for businesses in the United States to clear their existing inventories at the current sales pace.