Business inventories in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of August, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, with the report also showing a pullback by business sales.
The report said business inventories edged up by 0.2 percent in August after climbing by 0.4 percent in July. Economists had been expecting inventories to show another 0.4 percent increase.
The modest uptick in inventories was partly due to a notable increase in wholesale inventories, which advanced by 0.7 percent in August after rising by 0.3 percent in July.
While manufacturing inventories also inched up by 0.1 percent in August after coming in unchanged in July, retail inventories dropped by 0.3 percent after jumping by 0.9 percent in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report also showed that business sales fell by 0.4 percent in August after climbing by 0.7 percent in July.
Sales by manufacturers and wholesalers fell by 1.0 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, more than offsetting a 0.6 percent increase in sales by retailers.
Despite the drop in sales, the Commerce Department said the total business inventories/sales ratio came in at 1.29 in August, unchanged from the previous month. The ratio is up from 1.28 a year ago.
The Commerce Department noted that business inventories in August were up by 5.7 percent compared to the same month a year ago, while business sales were up by 4.5 percent year-over-year.
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