The Commerce Department's report on Tuesday revealed that business inventories in the U.S. saw a more significant increase than anticipated for May.
According to the data, business inventories went up by 0.5% in May, following a 0.3% rise in April. Economists had forecasted a continuation of the previous month's 0.3% growth.
The larger-than-expected rise in inventories was driven by a 0.6% increase in both wholesale and retail inventories, while manufacturing inventories experienced a modest 0.2% uptick.
Conversely, the report highlighted that business sales remained flat in May, after a 0.2% increase in April.
Breaking down the sales figures, wholesale sales grew by 0.4% and retail sales edged up by 0.2%, whereas manufacturing sales declined by 0.7%.
Additionally, the report noted that the total business inventories-to-sales ratio stood at 1.37 in May, unchanged from April.
