Inventories at U.S. wholesalers rose less than forecast in November as distributors struggled to keep up with demand, a sign gains in manufacturing will keep the economy growing.
The 0.1 percent increase in inventories followed a 1.2 percent revised gain in October, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists projected a 0.5 percent rise, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Sales climbed 0.6 percent in November.
Wholesalers kept enough goods on hand to last 1.15 months at the current sales pace, close to the record low of 1.13 months reached in March last year. More spending on holiday items after stockpiles were drawn down in the third quarter may have encouraged manufacturers to boost output as 2011 drew to a close.
“We expect some rebuilding in the fourth quarter, and actually quite a substantial boost” to growth from inventories, Aneta Markowska, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, said before the report. “Demand has been pretty good in the fourth quarter, though the momentum peaked early in the quarter.”
The median projection for wholesale inventories was based on a survey of 29 economists whose estimates ranged from a 0.1 percent decline to a 1 percent gain. The October reading was revised from a previously reported 1.6 percent increase.
