Wholesale sales of durable goods increased by 0.2% in May over April, led by a 3.6% increase in the automotive sector and 1.2% in electrical. Inventories decreased 0.8% compared to the prior month, suggesting wholesalers and distributors sold off goods they had stockpiled earlier in the year to avoid threatened tariff increases.
Overall wholesale sales were down 0.3% in May compared to April and up 4.8% compared to May 2024, according to the U.S. Wholesale Trade report released Wednesday by the Census Bureau unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Those figures are adjusted for seasonality and number of trading days but not for price changes.
Non-durable goods sales fell 0.8% in May versus April and were up only 2.3% year over year. Inventories of non-durable goods increased 0.5% month over month and 3.9% year over year.
The overall inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.30 in May 2025, the same as in April and down from 1.34 in May 2024. For durable goods, that ratio fell to 1.67 in May from 1.69 in April and 1.80 in May 2024.
“This is a good time of the year to have lower inventory,” says Erika Scherman, president of Minnesota-based distributor MC Tool & Safety Sales, which sells construction tools and safety equipment. “Seasonal inventory is pretty much sold by the Fourth of July, so it’s a good point to be a little light on inventory.”
Among durable good sectors, the biggest increase in stock on hand was in hardware, up 1.3% compared to April, and in lumber, up 1.0%. The biggest declines were in computer equipment (2.8%), miscellaneous durables (-2.5%) and furniture (-2.2%).
The inventory-to-sales ratio for non-durable goods wholesalers stood at 0.95 in May, slightly above the 0.93 level of April 2025 and May 2024.
Among non-durable categories, inventories of petroleum products rose 2.5% in May versus April and 1.8% for pharmaceuticals. The largest month-over-month decreases in non-durable inventories were in farm products (-3.8%) and chemicals (-1.9%).
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Don Davis, former editor-in-chief of Internet Retailer magazine and Vertical Web Media, is a freelance writer based in Chicago. His experience in retail and distribution goes back to his childhood when he worked in the toy wholesale business founded by his father and two uncles and in their discount department stores located throughout the New York metropolitan area.