WASHINGTON — The value of business inventories rose 0.2% in July, as expected by analysts and predicted by an MNI calculation, while business sales were also up 0.2%, a Commerce Department report Friday showed.
Retail inventories fell 0.1%, revised up slightly from the 0.2% decline reported in the advance estimate. Wholesale inventories rose 0.6% in the month, while factory inventories were up 0.2%.
Business inventories would have been up 0.3% in July if a flat reading for retail motor vehicle inventories was excluded, an MNI calculation showed.
Retail inventories, after excluding the motor vehicle inventory gain, were down 0.2% in the month, unchanged from the advance estimate. The remaining retail components were mixed, with inventory gains for furniture, building materials, and food stores partially offset by declines at clothing stores and general merchandise stores.
In addition, the unpublished retail categories were down 0.3% for the month, according to an MNI calculation, following a 0.8% increase in the previous month.
Business sales rose 0.2% in July. Retail sales excluding food services were up 0.3%, while wholesale sales fell 0.1% and factory shipments rose 0.3%.
With the similar movements in business inventories and sales, the inventory-to-sales ratio held steady at 1.38 in July, but was down from 1.40 in July 2016 as sales growth outpaced inventory growth over the last year.
