With a drop in retail inventories offsetting an increase in wholesale inventories, the Commerce Department released a report on Monday showing that U.S. business inventories unexpectedly came in unchanged in the month of March.
The report said business inventories were virtually unchanged for the second consecutive month, while economists had expected inventories to increase by 0.3 percent.
While retail inventories fell by 0.5 percent in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February, wholesale inventories rose by 0.4 percent after falling by 0.3 percent in the previous month.
Inventories at manufacturers were virtually unchanged in March following a 0.2 percent increase in February.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said business sales tumbled by 1.1 percent in March after jumping by 1.0 percent in February.
Sales by merchant wholesalers and manufacturers fell by 1.6 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively, while sales by retailers dropped by 0.6 percent.
The total business inventories/sales ratio came in at 1.29 in March, up from 1.28 in February and 1.26 in the same month a year ago.
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