On Friday, the Commerce Department issued a report indicating that U.S. business inventories experienced a minor increase in September, slightly below economists' projections. The rise was primarily due to a notable increase in retail inventories, although this was partly offset by declines in both manufacturing and wholesale inventories.
Specifically, business inventories inched up by 0.1% in September, following a 0.3% rise in August. Economists had anticipated a slightly higher growth of 0.2%.
The September increase in inventories was largely driven by a 0.9% growth in retail inventories, building on a 0.8% gain the previous month. In contrast, manufacturing inventories decreased by 0.2%, reversing a 0.1% uptick in August, while wholesale inventories also declined by 0.2%, following a 0.2% increase in the prior month.
Additionally, the Commerce Department reported that business sales improved by 0.3% in September, recovering from a 0.2% downturn in August. Within this sector, retail sales rose by 0.8% and wholesale sales increased by 0.3%, although manufacturing sales saw a decrease of 0.4%.
The overall business inventories-to-sales ratio remained steady at 1.38 in September, maintaining the same level as in August.
