With increases in manufacturing and wholesale inventories partly offset by a dip in retail inventories, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing U.S. business inventories rose by slightly less than expected in the month of October.
The Commerce Department said business inventories rose by 0.3 percent in October after inching up by a revised 0.2 percent in September.
Economists had expected business inventories to climb by 0.4 percent, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.
The report showed manufacturing and wholesale inventories both increased by 0.5 percent in October, while retail inventories edged down by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said business sales advanced by 0.8 percent in October after coming in unchanged in September.
Retail sales jumped by 1.3 percent during the month, while manufacturing sales increased by 0.7 percent and wholesale sales rose by 0.4 percent.
Reflecting the increases in both inventories and sales, the total business inventories/sales ratio was unchanged from the previous month at 1.33.
