US: Total inventories of merchant wholesalers were $608.1 billion in Aug, up 0.9%

"Total inventories of merchant wholesalers were $608.1 billion at the end of August, up 0.9 percent from the revised July level," the U.S. Census Bureau announced on Friday.

Key highlights:

• August 2017 sales of merchant wholesalers were $473.4 billion, up 1.7 percent from the revised July level and were up 7.2 percent from the August 2016 level. 
• The August inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, based on seasonally adjusted, data was 1.28. The August 2016 ratio was 1.32.