WASHINGTON (AP) — Inventories held by businesses on shelves and backlots posted the smallest increase in October in seven months.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that business inventories grew by just 0.1 percent in October following a 0.4 percent rise in September.
The October increase was the weakest showing since inventories were unchanged in March. It was below the 0.4 percent gain that economists had expected.
The small rise in inventories was seen as an effort by companies to control inventories in advance of an expected period of sluggish growth.