WASHINGTON – Business inventories increased 1.0% in July, twice as much as economists expected and the largest increase in two years, the Commerce Department reported today.
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Total business sales increased 0.7%, the largest increase in four months, following a 0.5% drop in June.
Inventories were up a revised 0.5% in June, originally reported as a 0.3% rise.Retail inventories increased 0.7% for the month following a 1.1% gain in June. Retail inventories excluding motor vehicles were flat for the month.
Economists expected business inventories would increase 0.5% for July, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The inventories-to-sales ratio held steady at 1.26, the same as in June.
