According to the U.S. Commerce Department, business inventories rose 0.6% in July from the previous month, following a 1.4% increase in June.
Business inventories increased by 18.4% year-on-year in July.
Retail inventories rose by 1.2%, while wholesale inventories increased by 0.6%.
Business sales fell 0.9% after rising 1.2% in June.
It also takes 1.32 months to exhaust inventories, up from 1.30 months in June.
The increase in business inventories is an indication of the sector’s confidence that sales will increase in the coming months.