WASHINGTON – The value of business inventories rose 0.2% in March, stronger than the 0.1% gain expected, while sales were flat, a Commerce Department report Friday showed.
Retail inventories rose 0.5%, revised up from the advance estimate of a 0.4% increase. Wholesale inventories rose 0.2% in the month, while factory inventories were flat.
Business inventories would have been up only 0.1% in March if a 0.9% jump in retail motor vehicle inventories was excluded, an MNI calculation showed.
Retail inventories, after excluding the motor vehicle inventory gain, were still up 0.3% in the month, compared with a 0.2% gain in the advance estimate. The remaining retail components were generally higher, with the exception of a 0.5% decline in furniture inventories and a 0.1% decline in food and beverage store inventories.
The unpublished retail categories were up 0.6% for the month, according to an MNI calculation, following a 0.4% decrease in the previous month.
Business sales were flat in March. Retail sales excluding food services rose 0.1%, adding to a flat reading for wholesale sales and a 0.1% decrease in manufacturing shipments, which are equivalent to sales in this report.
Even with the movements in business inventories and sales, the inventory-to-sales ratio held steady at 1.35 in March, but was down from 1.40 in March 2016.
