WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US business inventory fell for the first time in December as stocks dried up in retailers and wholesalers.
Stocks fell 0.2%, the first decline since March after winning 0.1% in November, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said Friday.
The economists voted by Reuters had no forecast of inventory, a key component of gross domestic product.
Inventory increased 2.0% year-on-year in December. Inventory is the most volatile component of GDP. Private inventory investments were a major resistance to GDP in the fourth quarter, limiting economic growth to an annual rate of 2.3%. The economy grew at a 3.1% rate in the July-September quarter.
Retail inventory fell 0.4%, not 0.3%, as estimated in advance reports released last month. They rose 0.1% in November.
Auto inventory fell 1.1% instead of the previously reported 1.2%. They fell 0.8% in November.
Retail inventory, excluding cars that enter GDP calculations, slipped 0.1%, rather than increasing 0.2% as previously reported. It increased by 0.6% in November.
Wholesale inventory fell 0.5% in December, while manufacturers’ stocks rose 0.4%.
After a 0.6% rise in November, business sales rose 0.8% in December. At the December sales pace, starting from 1.37 months in November, it will take companies 1.35 months to clear their shelves.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
