U.S. Wholesale Inventories Unexpectedly Flat In August

(RTTNews) - With an uptick in inventories of durable goods offset by a dip in inventories of non-durable goods, the Commerce Department released a report showing U.S. wholesale inventories came in roughly flat in the month of August.

The report said wholesale inventories were virtually unchanged in August after inching up by 0.1 percent in July. Economists had expected wholesale inventories to slip by 0.2 percent.

Wholesale inventories came in roughly flat as inventories of durable goods crept up by 0.1 percent, while inventories of non-durable goods edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said wholesale sales inched up by 0.1 percent in August after surging by 1.3 percent in July. Sales of durable goods rose by 0.3 percent, but sales of non-durable goods slipped by 0.1 percent.

The report also said the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers came in at 1.28 in August, unchanged from the previous month.