US wholesale inventories are unchanged in July; sales drop
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WASHINGTON — U.S. wholesale businesses left their inventories unchanged as their sales fell in July.
The Commerce Department said Friday that wholesalers held the line on stockpiles after increasing them 0.3 per cent in June. Their sales fell 0.4 per cent in July, reversing a 1.7 per cent increase in June. It was the biggest sales drop since January’s 1.9 per cent decline.
The July numbers show continued stress in the energy industry, which has been pinched by low oil and natural gas prices. Petroleum wholesalers reduced inventories by 1.2 per cent and recorded a 3.5 per cent drop in sales in July. Grocery wholesalers recorded a 2 per cent drop in sales but increased inventories by 0.9 per cent. Auto companies registered a 0.3 per cent sales drop but increased inventories by 0.4 per cent.
Weak inventory restocking has been a drag on U.S. economic growth. From April through June, businesses overall reduced inventories at the fastest pace since the fall of 2011. That’s one reason second-quarter economic growth came in at a lacklustre 1.1 per cent.
