U.S. Wholesale Inventories Climb Much More Than Expected In September

(RTTNews) - Wholesale inventories in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of September, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories climbed by 0.5 percent in September after edging down by a revised 0.1 percent in August.

Economists had expected wholesale inventories to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.

The much bigger than expected increase by wholesale inventories came as inventories of non-durable goods grew by 0.7 percent, while inventories of durable goods rose by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the report said wholesale sales slipped by 0.2 percent in September, matching a revised dip in August.

Sales of durable goods fell by 0.4 percent during the month, more than offsetting a 0.1 percent uptick in sales of non-durable goods.

With inventories climbing and sales falling, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers crept up to 1.29 in September from 1.28 in August.