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Supply Chain by the Numbers

Aug. 7, 2025

Supply Chain by the Numbers for Aug. 7, 2025

US Trade Deficit Down Sharply. US PMI for July shows Contraction again. Uber Booking Up on Big Jump in Delivery Business. UPS Changes Its Dimensonal Measurements


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16%
That was the drop in US trade gap in June versus May, according to the report from the Census Bureau this week. That took the total trade gap in goods and services down to $60.2 billion - the lowest level since September 2023. Imports of consumer goods fell to the lowest level since September 2020, and industrial supplies and motor vehicles were also down. Meantime, inbound shipments of capital equipment rose. The report illustrates what was likely the unwinding of US companies rushing to secure goods before President Donald Trump announced expansive tariffs on April 2. Many of those levies were subsequently paused or lowered, giving firms breathing room to secure more foreign-made goods in the meantime.

18-21%

That is the estimated rise in Q3 bookings for ride share and delivery service firm Uber, according to new estimates after better-than-expected Q2 results announced this week. Total second-quarter bookings came in at $46.8 billion, ahead of expectations, with a robust showing from Uber’s delivery unit outweighing a small miss in rideshare bookings. Uber cited an uptick in grocery and retail merchants on the platform as driving that growth, Uber partially attributed the results to the cross-selling advantage it has for the two core services it offers. Khosrowshahi said that 12% of annualized delivery bookings — translating to $10 billion — are generated via the Eats tab within the Uber rideshare app.



31
That is how months out of the last 33 that the US Purchasing Managers Index from the Institute for Supply Management has been below the key 50 score that indicates manufacturing expansion. That trend continued in July, with a PMI of 48.0, down from 49.0 in June, according to the ISM report released last Friday. Other economic indicators in the month were mixed. However, the New Orders Index was again in negative territory, contracting for the sixth month in a row following a three-month period of expansion; the figure of 47.1 was 0.7 percentage point higher than the 46.4 recorded in June, in bad news for future US manufacturing activity.



10
That is how many inches a package with one dimension measuring 9.1 inches will now be measured at for UPS parcel shipments, as it joins FedEx in this “rounding up” move. FedEx announced a similar move in July yo take effect in August. The new calculations affect any package dimension, including length, width and height. UPS currently rounds down dimensions of less than one-half an inch, according to its rate and service guide. Not any more. Parcel shippers have faced climbing ground shipping rates this year as UPS and FedEx install new fees and adjust existing surcharges.

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