WASHINGTON – Business inventories increased 0.5% in February, slightly above analysts’ expectations, the Commerce Department reported today.
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The 0.5% rise follows a revised 0.2% uptick in January, originally reported as unchanged.
Economists expected inventories to rise 0.4% during February, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The inventories-to-sales ratio remained at 1.27, after Commerce upwardly revised the ratio for January that was originally reported as 1.25. The ratio has fallen from 1.46 a year ago.
Total retail inventories grew 0.3% in February and retail inventories excluding motor vehicles increased 0.2% on an unadjusted basis.
Total wholesale inventories rose 0.6% and manufacturing inventories rose 0.5%.
