---
source: U.S. Census Bureau
url: https://www.census.gov/mtis/www/data/pdf/mtis_current.pdf
document_type: pdf
date_retrieved: 2026-04-21
period: February 2026
parent_publication: Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales (MTIS)
indicators_covered: [Business Inventories MoM, Retail Inventories Ex Autos MoM]
---

# Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales — February 2026

**Release Date:** Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at 10:00 AM EDT  
**Release Number:** CB26-64

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## Summary

- **Total Business Inventories:** $2,686.8 billion, up **0.4%** from January 2026
- **Total Business Sales:** $1,825.4 billion, up **1.7%** from January 2026
- **Inventories/Sales Ratio:** 1.47 (February 2026), down from 1.46 in January 2026

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## Key Indicator Values

### Business Inventories MoM (SA)
- **February 2026:** +0.4% ±0.1%
- **January 2026 (revised):** 0.0%*
- **February 2025:** +1.3%
> *The 90 percent confidence interval includes zero. There is insufficient evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero.

### Retail Inventories Ex Autos MoM (SA)
From Table 3 — Estimated Monthly Retail Sales, Inventories, and Inventories/Sales Ratios:

| NAICS | Kind of Business | Feb. 2026Inventories | Jan. 2026Inventories | % ChangeFeb 26/Jan 26 |
|-------|------------------|---------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
| — | Total (excl. motor veh. & parts) | $557,950M | $556,413M | **+0.3%** |

> Retail trade, total inventories: $816,723M, up 0.2% from January.

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## Full Text Extraction

### FOR RELEASE AT 10:00 AM EDT, TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2026

**MANUFACTURING AND TRADE INVENTORIES AND SALES, FEBRUARY 2026**  
Release Number: CB26-64  
April 21, 2026 — The U.S. Census Bureau announced the following new manufacturing and trade statistics for February 2026:

**Sales**  
The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers' shipments for February, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $2,014.8 billion, up 1.7 percent (±0.2 percent) from January 2026 and was up 5.5 percent (±0.5 percent) from February 2025.

**Inventories**  
Manufacturers' and trade inventories for February, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $2,686.8 billion, up 0.4 percent (±0.1 percent) from January 2026 and were up 1.3 percent (±0.4 percent) from February 2025.

**Inventories/Sales Ratio**  
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of February was 1.33. The February 2025 ratio was 1.39.

### Table 1. Estimated Monthly Sales and Inventories for Manufacturers, Retailers, and Merchant Wholesalers (In millions of dollars)

**Adjusted¹**

| | **Sales** | | | **Inventories** | | | **Inventories/Sales Ratios** | |
| | **Feb. 2026 (p)** | **Jan. 2026 (r)** | **Feb. 2025 (r)** | **Feb. 2026 (p)** | **Jan. 2026 (r)** | **Feb. 2025 (r)** | **Feb. 2026** | **Jan. 2026** | **Feb. 2025** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total business | 2,014,808 | 1,981,191 | 1,910,029 | 2,686,792 | 2,676,882 | 2,653,219 | 1.33 | 1.35 | 1.39 |
| Manufacturers² | 623,243 | 614,476 | 602,132 | 950,492 | 949,640 | 943,013 | 1.53 | 1.55 | 1.57 |
| Retail trade, total | 639,691 | 634,949 | 616,636 | 816,723 | 815,340 | 807,065 | 1.28 | 1.28 | 1.31 |
| **Total (excl. motor veh. & parts)** | **500,706** | **497,330** | **482,824** | **557,950** | **556,413** | **547,887** | **1.11** | **1.12** | **1.13** |
| Merchant wholesalers, total | 751,874 | 731,766 | 691,261 | 1,019,577 | 1,011,902 | 1,003,141 | 1.36 | 1.38 | 1.45 |

### Table 3. Estimated Monthly Retail Sales, Inventories, and Inventories/Sales Ratios, By Kind of Business (Adjusted¹)

**Retail Trade, Total:**
- Sales Feb 2026: $639,691M; Jan 2026: $634,949M; % change: +0.2%
- Inventories Feb 2026: $816,723M; Jan 2026: $815,340M; % change: +0.2%

**Total (excl. motor veh. & parts):**
- Sales Feb 2026: $500,706M; Jan 2026: $497,330M; % change: +0.3%
- Inventories Feb 2026: $557,950M; Jan 2026: $556,413M; % change: **+0.3%**
- Inventories/Sales Ratio: 1.11 (Feb 2026)

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### Explanatory Notes

- **(p) Preliminary estimate. (r) Revised estimate.**
- ¹ Adjusted for seasonal variations, trading day differences, and, in the case of sales, for holiday variations. Concurrent seasonal adjustment is used.
- Data are not adjusted for price changes.
- Sampling variability: 90 percent confidence intervals shown in parentheses for estimates on front page.
- Manufacturers do not contribute to estimates of sampling variability because the mail panel is not a probability sample.
- Estimates include data only for businesses with paid employees.

**Full source PDF:** https://www.census.gov/mtis/www/data/pdf/mtis_current.pdf

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*Extracted and formatted from original PDF release, April 21, 2026. All percent changes are seasonally adjusted month-over-month unless otherwise noted.*