Reflecting decrease in inventories of both durable and non-durable goods, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing a bigger than expected drop in U.S. wholesale inventories in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories fell by 0.5 percent in April after inching up by a revised 0.1 percent in March.
Economists had expected inventories to dip by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.
The report said inventories of non-durable goods slid by 0.8 percent amid steep drops in inventories of petroleum and farm products.
Inventories of durable goods also fell by 0.3 percent, reflecting notable decreases in inventories of computer equipment and automotive products.
The Commerce Department also said wholesale sales dropped by 0.3 percent in April after falling by 0.2 percent in March.
A 1.1 percent decline in sales of non-durable goods more than offset a 0.3 percent increase in sales of durable goods.
The inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers subsequently came in at 1.28 in April, unchanged from the previous month but down from 1.35 a year ago.
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