Financial News: U.S. Business Inventories Rise In Line With Estimates

U.S. Business Inventories Rise In Line With Estimates In May

07/16/2026 - 12:09:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - The Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing business inventories in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of May.

The report said business inventories rose by 0.3 percent in May after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in April.

Economists had expected business inventories to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.5 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Retail inventories led the way higher, growing by 0.6 percent, while manufacturing inventories edged up by 0.2 percent and wholesale inventories crept up by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said business inventories surged by 2.1 percent in May after jumping by 1.4 percent in April.

Wholesale sales soared by 3.4 percent, while manufacturing sales shot up by 1.6 percent and retail sales increased by 1.0 percent.

With sales spiking by much more than inventories, the total business inventories/sales ratio fell to 1.28 in May from 1.30 in April.

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