EmailWholesale inventories increased 0.8% in July after increasing 0.6% in June. The Briefing.com consensus expected wholesale inventories to increase 0.7%.
The gains in wholesale inventories may not last much longer.
Wholesale sales were unchanged in July after increasing 0.6% in June. If merchant wholesalers were counting on continued sales growth in July, then the increase in inventories was due to consumers leaving more goods than expected on the shelves and not from wholesalers actively increasing their inventory levels.
With sales expected to slow in August, inventory levels most likely continued to rise for the same reason. Two months of unexpected inventory gains may be enough to prompt merchant wholesalers to hold off on purchasing more inventory until sales growth returns to a positive trend.
