P.M. BRIEFING : Business Inventories Rise Slightly

Business inventories rose a modest 0.3% in March, while sales held steady after the steepest decline in more than two years, the government said today.

The Commerce Department said inventories held on shelves and back lots climbed to a seasonally adjusted $765.6 billion in March after a 0.4% rise in February.

Business sales, meanwhile, were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted $507.3 billion after plunging 0.9% in February, the sharpest drop since January, 1987.

The report was consistent with most other government statistics indicating that economic growth is slowing as the record peacetime expansion extends into its seventh year.

March business activity produced the second monthly increase in the ratio of inventories to sales. It was 1.51, meaning it would take 1.51 months to exhaust inventories at the March sales pace. The ratio stood at 1.50 in February and 1.48 in January.