Business inventories in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a modest increase in the month of May, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday.
The report said business inventories inched up by 0.1 percent in May following a downwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in April.
Economists had expected inventories to come in unchanged compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
The modest increase by business inventories in May was primarily due to a 0.6 percent increase in retail inventories.
Meanwhile, inventories at manufacturers came in unchanged for the month, while inventories at merchant wholesales fell by 0.5 percent.
The report also showed that business sales surged up by 1.1 percent in May after coming in unchanged in the previous month.
Sales by merchant wholesalers jumped by 1.6 percent, while sales by manufacturers and retailers rose by 1.0 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
With sales rising at a faster pace than inventories, the business inventories/sales ratio dipped to 1.29 in May from 1.30 in April. The ratio came in at 1.28 in May of 2012.
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