WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Business inventories in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of November, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday.
The report said business inventories rose by 0.5 percent in November after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8 percent in October.
Economists had expected inventories to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Manufacturing and retail inventories both increased by 0.7 percent during the month, while wholesale inventories came in unchanged.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said business sales edged down by 0.1 percent in November after climbing by 0.9 percent in October.
The modest drop came as retail sales tumbled by 1.1 percent, more than offsetting a 0.7 percent increase in manufacturing sales and a 0.2 percent uptick in wholesale sales.
The report said the total business inventories/sales ratio came in at 1.32 in November, unchanged from the previous month.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX