WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses increased their stockpiles slightly in March, while their sales were flat.
The Commerce Department says business inventories rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in March, matching February’s gain. And sales were unchanged in March after inching up 0.2 percent in February.
An effort by businesses to rebuild their stockpiles had added a full percentage point to economic growth in the October-December quarter, a period when the economy grew by a tepid 2.1 percent as measured by the gross domestic product.
But growth slowed in the January-March quarter, in part analysts say because inventories subtracted from overall economic activity. Annual GDP growth was just 0.7 percent in the first quarter.
Businesses spent much of last year working to reduce an overhang of unsold goods, a process that imposed a drag on growth. But economists say that process is nearing an end and the absence of a drag
from inventory reductions should mean stronger growth later in 2017.
For March, stockpiles held by manufacturers were unchanged. Makers of autos and vehicle parts had a big boost in inventories of 0.9 percent as their sales dropped 0.5 percent. Sales of building materials plummeted 1.7 percent in March. Overall, inventories rose 0.2 percent at the wholesale level and 0.5 percent at retailers.
- Posted May 16, 2017
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Businesses increased stockpiles slightly in March
headlines Oakland County
- Associations gather for Spring Fling
- Law school’s team wins William and Mary Colonial Cup Competition
- Supreme Court makes it easier to sue for job discrimination over forced transfers
- Oakland County Physician bound over on insurance fraud charges
- Innocence Project leaders present at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Spring Symposium
headlines National
- Incarceration series includes female inmates but doesn’t tell full story
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Former DOJ official who alleged election fraud violated at least one ethics rule, ethics committee says
- Winston & Strawn will provide reduced-cost legal services for routine tasks under Winston Legal Solutions umbrella
- Should Justice Sotomayor retire? Chemerinsky, White House haven’t joined calls for her to step down
- Which BigLaw firms are increasing lateral associate hiring the most? One made legal headlines last year