Inventories Rise for a 4th Straight Month

WASHINGTON — Wholesale inventories increased for a fourth straight month in October, the Commerce Department said Thursday, and sales increased moderately.

The steady rise in stocks of goods on hand during the fall indicates that wholesalers anticipated strong holiday sale prospects.

The department said inventories held by merchant wholesalers grew 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted $230.13 billion following a revised 0.5% rise in September.

During October, wholesalers’ sales increased 0.3% to a seasonally adjusted $174.93 billion after falling in September by a revised 0.5%.

Previously, the department said inventories had risen 0.4% in September and that sales had fallen 0.3%.

The additions to inventory in October were entirely at the durable goods level, as stocks of products like automobiles and furniture increased 1.0% to a seasonally adjusted $148.15 billion. By contrast, inventories of non-durable items like food and petroleum products fell fractionally from September’s levels, by 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted $81.98 billion.

Inventory-building adds to the economy’s vigor by keeping production of goods and services at a relatively brisk level.

At October’s sales pace, merchants had on hand 1.32 months’ worth of goods to sell, a slight rise from 1.31 months’ worth in September.

Separately, the Labor Department reported that the number of Americans filing new claims for state unemployment benefits climbed by 6,000 last week to 322,000, up from a revised 316,000 the week before.

Initial claims for the Nov. 26 week were previously reported at 317,000. New claims for jobless benefits typically go down in a holiday week.

The closely watched four-week moving average, which irons out weekly fluctuations and is considered a more accurate indicator of jobless trends than the weekly totals, dipped in the Dec. 3 week by 2,750 to 323,000 from a revised 325,750 a week earlier.

The total for the week ended Dec. 3 came in below Wall Street economists’ expectations of 325,000 initial claims.

The department said 17 states reported decreases in claims, on an unadjusted basis, of more than 1,000 in the week ended Nov. 26, the latest period for which the data were available. California led the nation with 35,181 fewer claims, followed by North Carolina with 5,405 and New Jersey, off 4,671.