P.M. BRIEFING : Inventories Up, Sales Down
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WASHINGTON — Business inventories inched upward 0.1% in April while sales fell 1.1%, the government said today in the second report this week showing increasing consumer caution.
“It is disconcerting that the consumer sector is so weak,” said Evelina Tainer, senior domestic economist with the First National Bank of Chicago. “The consumer sector is supposed to be the underpinning of economic growth and the weakness does not bode well for growth in the second quarter.”
The Commerce Department said business sales totaled a seasonally adjusted $533.04 billion, down from $535.99 billion in March, when they rose 0.6%. Sales on the retail level fell 0.9% in April.
Analysts have attributed consumer caution to a sluggish job market and weak wage gains.
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