US wholesale inventories rose 0.7% month-on-month to $1,013.1 billion in September 2026, exceeding the advance estimate of 0.6% and following an upwardly revised 0.6% increase in August. This was the eighth consecutive monthly gain, indicating ongoing stock accumulation in the wholesale sector.
Nondurable goods inventories increased 0.9%, a sharp acceleration from 0.1% in August, led by petroleum (+10.6%), chemicals (+1.3%), and apparel (+2.6%). In contrast, inventories of farm products and alcoholic beverages declined by 7.4% and 1.8%, respectively.
Durable goods inventories rose 0.6%, easing from a 0.9% increase in the previous month. Higher stocks of electrical goods (+2.5%) and hardware (+1.3%) more than offset declines in metal products (-0.9%) and automotive inventories (-0.5%).
On an annual basis, wholesale inventories were up 7.6% compared with September of the previous year, also beating the initial estimate.
