2018.08.0910:20:00UTC+00U.S. Wholesale Inventories Unexpectedly Inch Up 0.1% In June

Wholesale inventories in the U.S. saw a slight increase in the month of June, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories inched up by 0.1 percent in June after rising by 0.3 percent in May. Economists had expected wholesale inventories to come in unchanged.

The uptick in wholesale inventories reflected an increase in inventories of durable goods, which climbed by 0.8 percent in June following a 0.3 percent increase in May.

Notable increases in inventories of metals, miscellaneous durable goods and lumber more than offset a steep drop in automotive inventories.

Meanwhile, the report said inventories non-durable goods slumped by 1.0 percent in June after rising by 0.4 percent in May.

The sharp drop in inventories of non-durable goods was partly due to a substantial decrease in inventories of farm products.

The Commerce Department also said wholesale sales edged down by 0.1 percent in June following a 2.1 percent jump in the previous month.

Sales of durable goods rose by 0.2 percent in June after surging up by 1.4 percent in May, while sales of non-durable goods fell by 0.3 percent after spiking by 2.8 percent.

With inventories and sales both showing only modest moves, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers was unchanged from the previous month at 1.25.