US August Business Inventories Rise In Line With Expectations

United States business inventories increased in line with market expectations in August, according to government data released on Thursday. While one report stated inventories grew 0.4% following an upward-trending 0.8% increase in July, a subsequent Commerce Department report pegged August inventory growth at 0.3%, matching economist forecasts and a downwardly revised 0.3% July gain. The expansion was led by a 0.6% rise in retail inventories, while manufacturing and wholesale inventories each edged up 0.1%. Overall business sales declined 0.2% in August, lifting the inventories-to-sales ratio to 1.38 from 1.37 in July.