U.S. Business Inventories Rise 0.2% In July, In Line With Estimates

(RTTNews) - The Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing business inventories in the U.S. increased in line with expectations in the month of July.

The report said business inventories rose by 0.2 percent in July, matching the increase seen June as well as economist estimates.

The uptick came as manufacturing inventories climbed by 0.3 percent, retail inventories rose by 0.2 percent and wholesale inventories crept up by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said business sales shot up by 1.0 percent in July after climbing by 0.7 percent in June.

Wholesale sales surged by 1.4 percent, manufacturing sales grew by 0.9 percent and retail sales increased by 0.7 percent.

With sales increasing by much more than inventories, the total business inventories/sales ratio edged down to 1.37 in July from 1.38 in June.