The Commerce
Department reported on Tuesday that the U.S. business inventories jumped 0.5
per cent m-o-m in May, following an unrevised
0.3 per cent m-o-m increase in April. That was above economists’ forecast of a 0.3 per cent m-o-m rise and marked the strongest monthly increase
in business inventories since August 2022 (+0.8 per cent m-o-m).
According to
the report, the stocks at retailers and merchant wholesalers demonstrated a gain
of 0.6 per cent m-o-m each and inventories at manufacturers showed a 0.2 per
cent m-o-m advance.
In y-o-y terms,
business inventories climbed 1.6 per cent in May.