A report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed a continued surge in U.S. business inventories in the month of February.
The Commerce Department said business inventories shot up by 1.5 percent in February following an upwardly revised 1.3 percent jump in January.
Economists had expected business inventories to increase by 1.3 percent compared to the 1.1 percent advance originally reported for the previous month.
Wholesale inventories led the way higher, spiking by 2.5 percent, while retail inventories jumped by 1.2 percent and manufacturing inventories rose by 0.6 percent.
The report showed business sales also increased by 1.0 percent in February after soaring by 4.1 percent in January.
Wholesale sales shot up by 1.7 percent, while manufacturing and retail sales climbed by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
With inventories increasing by more than sales, the total business inventories/sales ratio ticked up to 1.26 in February from 1.25 in January.
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