After reporting a sharp increase in U.S. wholesale inventories in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing a modest pullback in inventories in the month of January.
The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories dipped by 0.2 percent in January after jumping by 1.0 percent in December. Economists had expected inventories to edge down by 0.1 percent.
Inventories of durable goods slipped by 0.2 percent in January after climbing by 0.7 percent in December, with the pullback reflecting a steep drop in automotive inventories.
The report also said inventories of non-durable goods edged down by 0.1 percent in January after surging up by 1.3 percent in December. Inventories of chemicals and petroleum showed notable decreases.
Additionally, the Commerce Department said wholesale sales dipped by 0.1 percent in January following a 2.4 percent jump in the previous month.
Sales of non-durable goods fell by 0.3 percent in January after spiking by 2.2 percent in December, reflecting significant decreases in sales of apparel, farm products, and petroleum.
On the other hand, the report said sales of durable goods crept up by 0.1 percent in January after soaring by 2.6 percent in December.
With sales and inventories both showing modest decreases, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers came in at 1.29 in January, unchanged from the previous month.
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