The US Logistics Managers’ Index rose to 70.7 in October 2026, up from 70.2 in September, marking the second-fastest pace of growth in the logistics sector in the past four years, surpassed only by June. This acceleration is largely driven by a sharp rise in inventory levels (66.9 vs. 58.9). Downstream retailers are building inventories slightly more rapidly than upstream firms, indicating that much of this increase reflects retailers stocking up ahead of the holiday season.
This inventory buildup has been costly: inventory costs climbed to 88.8 from 79.9, the highest level since March 2022. The added inventory appears to be straining available capacity, as both warehousing capacity (43.5 vs. 39.3) and transportation capacity (38.0 vs. 34.4) continued to contract.
Transportation price growth eased somewhat (88.0 vs. 92.7), but this moderation was offset by a strong acceleration in warehousing prices (80.7 vs. 73.5). Taken together, these components pushed Aggregate Logistics Costs to 257.5, the fastest rate of expansion since March 2022.
