U.S. Wholesale Inventories Ticked Up 0.7% in June

U.S. wholesalers restocked at a modest pace in June.

Wholesale inventories rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in June from the prior month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 0.6% increase.

Sales in June were also up 0.7% from a month earlier. The ratio of inventories to sales ticked down to 1.29 in June from 1.32 a year earlier.

Over all, inventory investment has been weak this year. Change in inventories is an important component in the calculation of economic output. The increase in gross domestic product, which expanded at a 2.6% annual rate in the second quarter, reflected positive contributions in categories like consumer spending that were partly offset by negative contributions in private inventory investment, the Commerce Department reported in July.

Write to Sarah Chaney at sarah.chaney@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 09, 2017 10:20 ET (14:20 GMT)