U.S. Business Inventories Increase In Line With Estimates In May

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday showed U.S. business inventories increased in line with economist estimates in the month of May.

The Commerce Department said business inventories rose by 0.5 percent in May following a revised 0.1 percent uptick in April.

Economists had expected business inventories to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.2 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.

The increase in business inventories came as wholesale inventories jumped by 1.3 percent and manufacturing inventories advanced by 0.9 percent, more than offsetting a 0.8 percent drop in retail inventories.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department business sales fell by 0.3 percent in May after climbing by 0.6 percent in April.

The pullback in business sales came as retail sales tumbled by 2.4 percent, while wholesale and manufacturing sales rose by 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

With inventories rising and sales falling, the total business inventories/sales ratio inched up to 1.26 in May from 1.25 in April.