WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Manufacturing and trade business inventories were flat in September, short of the consensus forecast, the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday.
Economists had expected a 0.2 percent rise.
Inventories held steady at $1.53 trillion, a 9 percent increase from a year earlier.
Trade sales and manufacturers' shipments rose 0.6 percent from August to September $1.209 trillion. From September 2010, sales and shipments jumped 11.6 percent.
The inventory-sales ratio for manufacturing and trade businesses was 1.27 at the end of September, down from 1.3 in September 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.
