2016.09.1510:49:00UTC+00U.S. Business Inventories Come In Flat In July

With a drop in retail inventories offsetting an uptick in manufacturing inventories, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that total U.S. business inventories came in flat in the month of July.

The report said business inventories were virtually unchanged in July after rising by 0.2 percent in June. Inventories had been expected to inch up by 0.1 percent.

While retail inventories fell by 0.3 percent in July after climbing by 0.4 percent in June, manufacturing inventories inched up by 0.1 percent after coming in flat in the previous month.

The Commerce Department also said wholesale inventories came in unchanged in July following a 0.3 percent increase in June.

Meanwhile, the report said business sales edged down by 0.2 percent in July after jumping by 1.0 percent in the previous month.

Wholesale sales and manufacturing sales fell by 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, while retail sales inched up by 0.1 percent.

The Commerce Department said the total business inventories/sales ratio came in at 1.39 in July, unchanged from June but up from 1.37 a year ago.

Compared to the same month a year ago, business inventories were up by 0.5 percent but business sales were down by 0.8 percent.