Inventories Grow but at Slower Pace : Economy: Analysts say brisk sales are slowly bringing stocks of unsold goods into line.

Stocks of unsold goods grew for the 17th straight month in August, the government said Monday, but analysts said brisk sales were slowly bringing business inventories into line.

Total inventories grew 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted $969.12 billion, following a revised 0.5% rise in July, the Commerce Department said. Most of the August increase occurred at the retail level.

At the same time, sales jumped a healthy 1.5% to $686.09 billion in August, the strongest gain in a year, the department said.

The rise, which spread across manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing, was the biggest since sales rose 3.1% in August, 1994, the department said.

Analysts said the strong sales were allowing businesses to trim inventories slowly.

“Inventory excesses are gradually being corrected,” said Robert Dederick, economic consultant to Northern Trust Co. in Chicago.

“Even though retail inventories were up in August, autos were in good shape and most of the buildup occurred in areas where we know there were good sales in September,” he said.

The department reported Friday that retail sales grew 0.3% in September to a seasonally adjusted $197.5 billion after a 0.5% rise in August. Sales of clothing, furniture and building materials were strong, though new-car sales weakened from August.

During August, manufacturers’ inventories were unchanged from July at a seasonally adjusted $412.47 billion, while stocks of unsold goods at wholesalers rose 0.4% to $254.14 billion.

Most of the growth in August inventories came at the retail level, where stocks of unsold goods expanded 1% to a seasonally adjusted $302.51 billion. That was the biggest monthly rise since 1.5% in January.

Nonetheless, economists saw little reason to worry.

Dederick said it was encouraging that manufacturers seem to have production levels trimmed to match demand, since there was no inventory buildup in the industrial sector in August.

“The inventory correction appears to be very well advanced,” he said. “Now that it’s reached back into the manufacturing level, we can be even more confident of that since these business are at the start of the production line.”

Meanwhile, the inventory-to-sales ratio fell to 1.41 in August, from 1.43 in July. That means it would take 1.41 months to exhaust stockpiles at the August sales rate.

Total sales in August were at a seasonally adjusted $686.1 billion, up from $675.8 billion the previous month.

The increase in August inventories included a 0.4% rise in interest-sensitive durable goods such as cars and household appliances. Durable goods inventories are 8.4% higher than a year earlier.

Stocks of non-durable goods such as food and fuel rose 0.5% and were 7.6% higher than a year earlier.