U.S. Business Inventories Edged Up Again in May

By Ed Frankl

U.S. business inventories rose for the second month in a row in May, data published Tuesday said.

Inventories climbed 0.5% on month, adjusted Commerce Department figures showed, higher than the 0.3% in April and matching a consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

The ratio of inventories to sales, a guide to how many months it would take for businesses to clear their inventories at the current sales rate, held at 1.37 in May, the same as April.

The ratio lightly increased for both manufacturers and retailers, edging up to 1.47 from 1.46 and 1.31 from 1.30 respectively. For merchant wholesalers, the ratio remained the same.

Overall, inventories ticked up 0.2% for manufacturers, and increased 0.6% for both retailers and merchant wholesalers.

Write to Ed Frankl at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-16-24 1029ET