The seasonally adjusted gain from September was $129 million, pushing sales to $11.91 billion, the Census Bureau said. Bev/al distributor inventories fell 0.1% from September to $15.41 billion.
The sales gains for bev/al wholesalers were better that those of all merchant wholesalers, which rose 0.7% to $484.6 billion, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes.
Total inventories of all merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were $605.3 billion at the end of October, down 0.5% from the revised September level. Total inventories were up 3.9% from the revised October 2016 level.