U.S. Business Inventories Inch Slightly Higher In October

(RTTNews) - Business inventories in the U.S. edged slightly higher in the month of October, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The report said business inventories inched up by 0.2 percent in October after rising by 0.3 percent in September. The modest uptick in inventories matched economist estimates.

Wholesale inventories climbed by 0.4 percent, while inventories at retailers and manufacturers ticked up by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, the Commerce Department said business sales edged down by 0.1 percent in October after coming in unchanged in September.

The modest drop in business sales came as a 0.8 percent decrease in sales by manufacturers more than offset a 0.4 percent increase in retail sales and a 0.2 percent uptick in wholesale sales.

With inventories and sales showing only modest changes, the total business inventories/sales ratio came in at 1.30 in October, unchanged from the previous month. The ratio is up from 1.29 a year ago.

The report also said business inventories in October were up by 4.8 percent compared to the same month a year ago, while business sales were up by 3.4 percent year-over-year.