U.S. Business Inventories Inch Up In Line With Estimates In October

(RTTNews) - Business inventories in the U.S. crept slightly higher in the month of October, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

The Commerce Department said business inventories inched up by 0.1 percent in October, while revised data showed business inventories were unchanged in September.

Economists had expected business inventories to edge up by 0.1 percent, matching the uptick originally reported for the previous month.

The modest increase by business inventories came as both retail and wholesale inventories rose by 0.2 percent, more than offsetting a 0.1 percent dip by manufacturing inventories.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said business sales came in unchanged in October after rising by 0.3 percent in September.

Retail sales climbed by 0.4 percent, while manufacturing sales slipped by 0.2 percent and wholesale sales edged down by 0.1 percent.

The report also said the total business inventories/sales ratio came in at 1.37 in October, unchanged from the previous month.