After reporting virtually no change in U.S. business inventories in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing inventories increased in line with economist estimates in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said business inventories climbed by 0.5 percent in April after coming in virtually unchanged in March, matching expectations.
Wholesale inventories showed a notable 0.8 percent increase, while retail and manufacturing inventories rose by 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, the report said business sales fell by 0.2 percent in April after soaring by 1.3 percent in the previous month.
While retail sales rose by 0.3 percent, wholesale and manufacturing sales dropped by 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
With inventories rising and sales falling, the total business inventories/sales ratio inched up to 1.39 in April from 1.38 in March.
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