U.S. Business Inventories Climb 0.4% In July, In Line With Estimates

(RTTNews) - Business inventories in the U.S increased in line with economist estimates in the month of July, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday.

The Commerce Department said business inventories rose by 0.4 percent in July, matching the increase reported for June as well as the consensus estimate.

The continued increase in business inventories was partly due to a jump in retail inventories, which surged up by 1.0 percent in July after climbing by 0.7 percent in June.

Manufacturing and wholesale inventories both edged up by 0.1 percent in July after rising by 0.2 percent in the previous month.

Additionally, the report said business sales climbed by 0.8 percent in July after rising by 0.6 percent in the previous month.

The increase in business sales reflected a 1.2 percent jump in sales by manufacturers as well as a 0.7 percent increase in wholesale sales. Retail sales edged up by 0.3 percent.

The report also said the total business inventories/sales ratio came in at 1.29 in July, unchanged from the previous month but up from 1.28 in the same month a year ago.

The Commerce Department noted that business inventories in July were up by 5.9 percent compared to the same month a year ago, while business sales were up by 5.3 percent year-over-year.