WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Manufacturing and trade business inventories rose 0.4 percent in July, just under the consensus forecast, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday.
Inventories rose to $1.52 trillion, a 10.6 percent increase from a year earlier.
Trade sales and manufacturers' shipments rose 0.7 percent from June to $1.18 trillion. From July 2010, sales and shipments jumped 12 percent.
The inventory-sales ratio for manufacturing and trade businesses was 1.27 in July, down from 1.28 in June and from 1.29 in July 2010.
The ratio indicates how long it would take to sell all inventory at current prices and attempts to indicate whether inventories are rising due to an anticipation of sales or, conversely, a decline in sales that is causing an inventory backlog.
