The Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing U.S. business inventories increased by slightly less than expected in the month of September.
The report said business inventories rose by 0.4 percent in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.9 percent in August.
Economists had expected inventories to increase by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.8 percent advance originally reported for the previous month.
Wholesale inventories climbed by 0.6 percent, while retail inventories rose by 0.4 percent and manufacturing inventories inched up by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the report showed business sales crept up by 0.2 percent in September after rising by 0.3 percent in August.
While wholesale and manufacturing sales rose by 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, retail sales edged down by 0.1 percent.
With inventories and sales both rising, the total business inventories/sales ratio was unchanged from the previous month at 1.33.
