U.S. Wholesale Inventories Rise 0.2% In June, In Line With Estimates

The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing wholesale inventories in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of June.

The report said wholesale inventories rose by 0.2 percent in June after climbing by 0.5 percent in May. The uptick matched expectations as well as the preliminary estimate.

The modest increase by wholesale inventories came as inventories of non-durable goods grew by 0.7 percent, more than offsetting a 0.1 percent dip by inventories of durable goods.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said wholesale sales fell by 0.6 percent in June after rising by 0.3 percent in May.

The decrease by wholesale sales came as a 0.4 percent increase in sales of durable goods was more than offset by a 1.6 percent slump in sales of non-durable goods.

With inventories increasing and sales falling, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers rose to 1.37 in June from 1.35 in May.