MNI DATA ANALYSIS: US August Business Inventories Up 0.7%>

--Retail Inventories +0.7%, Unrevised From Advance Estimate

--Total Business Inventories Excluding Retail Auto +0.6%

--Unpublished Retail Components +0.7% In August, MNI Calculation Shows

By Kevin Kastner and Holly Stokes

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - The value of business inventories rose 0.7% in 

August, as expected by analysts and predicted by an MNI calculation, 

matching a 0.7% gain in business sales, a Commerce Department report 

Friday showed. 

     Retail inventories rose 0.7%, unrevised from the advance estimate. 

Wholesale inventories rose 0.9% in the month, while factory inventories 

were up 0.4%. 

     The Commerce Department had no comments about any impact from the 

hurricanes on the inventory data. 

     Business inventories would have been up 0.6% in August if a 1.3% 

gain in retail motor vehicle inventories was excluded, an MNI 

calculation showed. 

     Retail inventories, after excluding the motor vehicle inventory 

gain, were up 0.4% in the month, unrevised from the advance estimate. 

The remaining retail components were generally higher, but inventories 

at clothing stores and general merchandise stores were flat. 

     In addition, the unpublished retail categories were up 0.7% for the 

month, according to an MNI calculation, following a 0.2% decrease in the 

previous month. 

     Business sales rose 0.7% in August. Retail sales excluding food 

services were down 0.1%, while wholesale sales rose 1.7% and factory 

shipments rose 0.5%. 

     With the matching movements in business inventories and sales, the 

inventory-to-sales ratio held steady at 1.38 in August, but was down 

from a 1.40 reading in August 2016 as sales growth outpaced inventory 

growth over the last year. 

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 ** 

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