The U.S. Department of Commerce revealed on Thursday that, as projected by economists, business inventories across the nation increased in December. According to their report, business inventories witnessed a 0.4 percent rise in December after slightly dropping by 0.1 percent in November, aligning with economic forecasts.
Furthermore, retail inventories notably increased by 0.6 percent, accompanied by a 0.4 percent rise in wholesale inventories and a marginal 0.1 percent increase in manufacturing inventories.
The report also pointed out a 0.4 percent enhancement in business sales in December, following a stagnant period in November. Wholesale and retail sales saw an uplift of 0.7 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, while numbers for manufacturing sales remained static.
Despite the simultaneous expansion of inventories and sales, the overall ratio of business inventories to sales for December stayed consistent with the 1.37 ratio reported the previous month.
