The Commerce
Department announced on Monday that the U.S. business inventories rose 0.3 per
cent m-o-m in January 2025, following an unrevised
0.2 per cent m-o-m drop in December 2024. This was in line with economists’ predictions and
marked the strongest monthly gain in
business inventories since August 2024 (+0.3 per cent m-o-m).
According to
the report, stocks at merchant
wholesalers soared by 0.8 per cent m-o-m in January and those at manufacturers increased
by 0.1 per cent m-o-m. Meanwhile, inventories
at retailers were flat m-o-m.
In y-o-y terms,
business inventories surged 2.3 per cent in January.