US business inventories unexpectedly increased in May, posting their first rise in 16 months as sales fell, the US government said today.
Inventories at retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers rose 0.2 per cent in May after dropping 0.2 per cent a month earlier, the Commerce Department said.
It was the first rise in business inventories since a matching 0.2 per cent gain in January 2001. The increase came as sales slid 0.4 per cent after a strong per cent gain in April.
With sales off and stocks up, the inventories-to-sales ratio - a measure of how many months it would take to sell off inventories at the current sales pace - ticked up to 1.36 in May from 1.35 in April.