U.S. wholesale inventories in May were revised downward, with the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau reporting a 0.1% increase rather than the 0.3% gain published last month. The smaller-than-expected rise may reduce hopes that a broad restocking cycle will materially lift second-quarter economic output.
The agency said inventories had expanded 0.7% in April and were up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis in May. Officials noted that business inventories had been drawn down across four consecutive quarters prior to the most recent readings.
Economists had been expecting a rebuilding of stockpiles to offset some of the drag on GDP coming from a wider trade deficit. The Atlanta Federal Reserve’s model is currently forecasting that gross domestic product will grow at a 1.4% annualized rate in the second quarter. By comparison, the economy expanded at a 2.1% pace in the January-March quarter.
The government also reported a sharp rise in imports in May, reaching a 14-month high and widening the trade gap. Some forecasters attributed that surge in part to businesses front-loading shipments to avoid expected price increases and to guard against shortages tied to the war in the Middle East. The Census Bureau said some of those additional imports were recorded as inventory.
Breakdowns by category showed mixed results. Wholesale inventories of professional equipment rose 1.2%, while computer equipment stocks jumped 4.0% - a sizeable increase that the report said was likely related to an artificial intelligence investment boom. Furniture inventories edged up 0.5%, and hardware stocks increased 0.6%. In contrast, metal inventories fell 2.8% and petroleum stocks declined 5.7%.
Wholesale sales also climbed, rising 3.4% in May following a 2.2% advance in April. Based on May's sales pace, it would take approximately 1.15 months to clear existing wholesale shelves, the shortest such period since April 2012 and down from 1.19 months in April. The inventories-to-sales ratio stood at 1.31 months in May 2025.
The revised inventory figures narrow the scope for restocking to deliver a sizable boost to second-quarter GDP, even as sector-specific inventory increases - particularly in computer equipment - point to concentrated investment activity in certain parts of the economy.