WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed a bigger than expected decrease in U.S. business inventories in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said business inventories tumbled by 1.3 percent in April after falling by a revised 0.3 percent in March.
Economists had expected business inventories to decrease by 0.8 percent compared to the 0.2 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.
The bigger than expected decrease reflected a sharp pullback in retail inventories, which plunged by 3.7 percent in April after jumping by 1.1 percent in March.
Manufacturing inventories also fell by 0.4 percent in April after slumping by 1.1 percent in March, while wholesale inventories rose by 0.3 percent after tumbling by 1.1 percent.
The report also showed business sales plummeted by 14.4 percent in April following a 5.2 percent nosedive in the previous month.
Wholesale sales plunged by 16.9 percent, while manufacturing and retail sales cratered by 13.5 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively.
With sales falling by much more than inventories, the total business inventories/sales ratio spiked to 1.67 in April from 1.45 in March.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX