P.M. BRIEFING : Business Sales Up Hefty 3.1%
WASHINGTON — Business inventories rose 0.3% in August, but business sales gained a hefty 3.1%, the government reported today.
The combination of sales advancing far faster than the accumulation of goods on shelves and back lots is good news for the economy. If inventories were to pile up excessively, it could mean cutbacks in production and a loss of jobs.
The Commerce Department said inventories climbed to a seasonally adjusted $789.9 billion in August, following a gain of 0.9% in July.
Business sales, meanwhile, rose to a seasonally adjusted $526.8 billion after dropping 0.9% in July.
The August business activity produced a decrease in the ratio of inventories to sales. It was 1.50, meaning it would take one and one-half months to exhaust inventories at the August pace. The ratio stood at 1.54 in July.
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