(RTTNews) – Wholesale inventories in the U.S. edged slightly higher in the month of May, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
The report said wholesale inventories crept up by 0.1 percent in May after growing by 0.7 percent in April. Economists had expected wholesale inventories to rise by 0.3 percent.
The modest increase came as inventories of both durable and non-durable goods inched up by 0.1 percent during the month.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said wholesale sales shot up by 3.4 percent in May after jumping by 2.2 percent in April.
Sales of durable goods spiked by 4.2 percent during the month, while sales of non-durable goods surged by 2.6 percent.
With sales increasing by much more than inventories, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers fell to 1.15 in May from 1.19 in April.
