Wholesale inventories in the U.S. fell by more than expected in the month of January, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
The report said wholesale inventories dipped by 0.3 percent in January after climbing by 0.4 percent in December. Economists had expected wholesale inventories to edge down by 0.1 percent.
The bigger than expected decrease came as a 1.0 percent slump by inventories of non-durable goods more than offset a 0.2 percent uptick by inventories of durable goods.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said wholesale sales tumbled by 1.7 percent in January after rising by 0.3 percent in December.
Sales of non-durable goods plunged by 2.5 percent during the month, while sales of durable goods slid by 0.7 percent.
With sales falling by much more than inventories, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers rose to 1.36 in January from 1.34 in December.
Copyright © 2024, RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
