WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a modest increase in U.S. business inventories in the month of July.
The Commerce Department said business inventories inched up by 0.1 percent in July after slumping by 1.1 percent in June. The uptick in inventories matched economist estimates.
The modest rebound in business inventories came as retail inventories jumped by 1.2 percent in July after tumbling by 2.7 percent in the previous month.
On the other hand, the report showed wholesale and manufacturing inventories fell by 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
The Commerce Department also said business sales surged up by 3.2 percent in July after soaring by 8.6 percent in June.
Manufacturing and wholesale sales both spiked by 4.6 percent during the month, while retail sales rose by 0.5 percent.
With the jump in sales far outpacing the uptick in inventories, the total business inventories/sales ratio slid to 1.33 in July from 1.37 in June.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX