U.S. Wholesale Inventories Dip In Line With Estimates In May

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a modest decrease by wholesale inventories in the U.S. in the month of May.

The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories fell by 0.3 percent in May after inching up by 0.1 percent in April. The pullback by inventories matched economist expectations as well as the flash estimate.

The modest decrease by wholesale inventories came as inventories of durable goods slid by 0.8 percent, more than offsetting a 0.5 percent increase in inventories of non-durable goods.

The report also said wholesales sales dipped by 0.3 percent in May after coming in unchanged in the previous month.

While sales of durable goods crept up by 0.2 percent during the month, sales of non-durable goods declined by 0.8 percent.

With inventories and sales both falling, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers came in unchanged from the previous month at 1.30.