WASHINGTON (AP) — Stockpiles held by wholesale businesses rose in October, while sales posted a smaller gain.
Stockpiles at the wholesale level increased 0.4 percent, matching September's figure, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Sales edged up 0.2 percent during the month after a flat reading in September and a 0.8 percent drop in August.
Economists are watching closely to see if businesses begin holding back on expanding inventories in the face of weaker sales. That would be a drag on economic growth since the restocking of store shelves spurs orders to manufacturing companies and gains in factory production.
A cutback in inventory building could be a sign that businesses are worried about future sales. Swings in inventories can have a big impact on economic growth.
The October gain in stockpiles pushed inventories at the wholesale level to a seasonally adjusted $542 billion in October, an increase of 6.8 percent from the level a year ago.
There was a 1.2 percent gain in stockpiles of nondurable goods in October with paper, drugs and farm products all showing growth. Stockpiles of durable goods were flat in October and autos, one of the bigger components, fell by 1.4 percent.
A big rise in inventory building in the April-June quarter contributed 1.4 percentage points to growth during that period. However, businesses slowed stockpiling in the third quarter and that subtracted 0.1 percentage point from growth.
The economy posted a healthy growth rate of 3.9 percent in the July-September period.
While analysts are looking for growth to slow to around 2.5 percent in the current quarter, they expect the economy next year will turn in its best performance in a decade, growing by around 3.1 percent.
Economists believe that steady job gains this year paired with big declines in energy prices will boost consumer spending.
