Sales, Inventories Rise: The Commerce Department said...

Sales, Inventories Rise: The Commerce Department said inventories rose 0.5% in November after rising 0.3% a month earlier. The November figure was slightly higher than the 0.4% increase originally reported. Business sales were up 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted $523.6 billion, after falling a revised 0.5% in October. That revision compared to the initially reported 0.7% drop. The November business activity caused the ratio of inventories to sales to decline slightly to 1.52, meaning it would take 1.52 months to exhaust inventories at the November pace. The ratio was 1.53 in October. Inventories often rise during periods of slow economic growth and could result in production cutbacks and loss of jobs as businesses try to reduce the accumulation of goods on shelves and back lots.