The U.S. Census Bureau announced the following new manufacturing and trade statistics for July 2018: The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for July, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,454.1 billion, up 0.2 percent (±0.1 percent) from June 2018 and was up 8.1 percent (±1.2 percent) from July 2017. Manufacturers’ and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,950.0 billion, up 0.6 percent (±0.1 percent) from June 2018 and were up 4.3 ... (full story)