Inventories Down: The government said business inventories...

Inventories Down: The government said business inventories fell 0.2% in December while sales remained unchanged. Inventories declined to a seasonally adjusted $795.2 billion after rising 0.5% in November and 0.3% in October. It was the first decline since a 0.1% drop in October, 1988, and the largest since inventories slipped 0.6% in December, 1986. At the same time, sales were flat at a seasonally adjusted $522.5 billion.