Business Inventories Ratio Falls to 1.33 as Sales Outpace Stocking

Business inventories rose just 0.4% in August even as sales jumped 10.2% from a year earlier, driving the total inventories to sales ratio down to 1.33 from 1.40 in August 2025. The Census Bureau's Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales report, released October 15, shows a supply chain getting leaner at every layer, and the restock these numbers point to has not reached the freight market yet.

Sales are the shock absorber here. The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers' shipments reached $2,123.5 billion in August, up 1.1% from July and 10.2% above August 2025. Inventories grew to $2,818.8 billion, but only 4.6% above a year ago. When sales run at a double-digit…