Inventories at U.S. wholesalers climbed in June at the slowest pace in seven months as distributors kept stockpiles in line with sales.
The 0.6 percent increase in inventories followed a revised 1.7 percent rise in May, Commerce Department figures showed Wednesday in Washington. Economists projected a 1 percent gain, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Sales also rose 0.6 percent in June after dropping the previous month.
Wholesalers may be trying to limit the amount of unsold merchandise on hand after the U.S. economic expansion slowed in the first half of this year.
To help bolster the economy, Federal Reserve policymakers on Tuesday pledged to keep their benchmark interest rate at a record low at least through mid-2013.
“Inventories are likely desired at a much lower level, so they’re probably excessive given new expected future economic growth,” Robert Brusca, president of Fact & ap Economics in New York, said before the report. “That’s one of the reasons we’re seeing the manufacturing industry wind down.”
The median projection for wholesale inventories was based on a survey of 34 economists whose estimates ranged from increases of 0.3 percent to 1.5 percent. The May reading was revised from a previously reported 1.8 percent increase.
Wholesalers’ stockpiles of durable goods, or those meant to last several years, increased 1.3 percent in June, led by a surge in imported automobiles and parts, Wednesday’s report showed. Metals and machinery inventories also picked up in June.
