Wholesale Sales, Inventories Fall
From Bloomberg News
U.S. wholesale inventories unexpectedly dropped in April for the first time in six months, suggesting that distributors were wary of the outlook for sales, a government report showed Monday.
Stockpiles fell 0.1% for the month to $290.6 billion, the first decrease since October, after rising 0.4% in March, the Commerce Department said. Wholesale sales fell a record 2% after rising 1%.
The economy grew at less than 2% at an annual rate in each of the last two quarters as the U.S. prepared for war with Iraq. Retail inventory statistics will be available Thursday.
