US: Wholesale inventories increases by 0.6% in May vs. 0.5% expected

"Total inventories of merchant wholesalers were $633.5 billion at the end of May, up 0.6 percent from the revised April level," the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Wednesday.

Key takeaways from the official publication

• Total inventories were up 5.9 percent from the revised May 2017 level.
• The May inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, based on seasonally adjusted data, was 1.24. The May 2017 ratio was 1.31.
• May 2018 sales of merchant wholesalers were $509.0 billion, up 2.5 percent from the revised April level and were up 11.8 percent from the May 2017 level.