HOUSTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. business inventories in May gained 0.4 percent after rising 0.3 percent in April, the Commerce Department said on Monday.
Business inventories for April was revised from 1,930.0 billion to 1,929.4 billion dollars, according to the Commerce Department.
Manufacturers' and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of 1,936.9 billion U.S. dollars in May, up 0.4 percent from April 2018 and were up 8.6 percent from May 2017.
The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers' shipments for May, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at 1,449.7 billion dollars, up 1.4 percent from April 2018 and was up 8.6 percent from May 2017.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of May was 1.34. The May 2017 ratio was 1.39.
