Total business inventories were unchanged during August (4.2% y/y) following a 0.3% July gain, revised from 0.4%. Total business sales rose 0.2% (1.1% y/y), the same as in July which was revised from 0.3%. The inventory-to-sales (I/S) ratio held steady at 1.40 for the fourth straight month.

Retail inventories eased 0.1% (+3.6% y/y) in August after a 0.7% jump. Auto inventories slipped 0.1% (+5.6% y/y) while nonauto inventories fell 0.2% (+2.5% y/y). Inventories of furniture & home furnishings eased 0.1% (-0.8% y/y), down for the fifth month in the last six. Clothing inventories fell 0.2% (+0.6% y/y) after a 0.3% rise. General merchandise store inventories fell 0.4% (-0.8% y/y) after a 0.8% increase while department store inventories declined for the seventh month this year (-7.6% y/y). Wholesale inventories rose 0.2% (6.2% y/y) in August for a second straight month. Factory sector inventories were little-changed (+2.9% y/y) after two minimal increases.

Retail sales increased 0.6% (4.6% y/y) in August after a 0.8% rise. Sales excluding autos improved 0.3% (3.9% y/y). Wholesale sector sales were unchanged (-0.7% y/y) after a 0.2% rise, while shipments from the factory sector eased 0.1% (-0.3% y/y).

The inventory-to-sales ratio in the retail sector slipped to 1.44 and has been falling since early this year. The non-auto retail I/S ratio held steady at 1.18 and matched its all-time low reached in November 2018. The wholesale I/S ratio was unchanged at 1.36 in August while the manufacturing I/S ratio held at 1.38.

The manufacturing and trade data are in Haver's USECON database.