Total business inventories increased 0.1% (4.0% y/y) during June following two months of 0.3% increase. Total business sales increased 0.3% (8.2% y/y), following a 1.3% gain. The inventory-to-sales ratio rose to 1.35 from 1.34. It peaked early in 2016 at 1.43.

Retail inventories increased 0.1% (1.7% y/y) in June, following two months of 0.4% increase. Auto inventories eased 0.1% (+1.2% y/y) after a 0.9% rise. Non-auto retail inventories increased 0.2% (2.0% y/y) following a 0.1% uptick. General merchandise inventories fell 0.3% (-0.5% y/y) after a 0.2% gain. In the department store sector, inventories declined 0.5% (-3.1% y/y) following a 0.2% rise. Building materials inventories surged 1.5% (7.6% y/y) after a 0.5% increase, while clothing store inventories fell 0.2% (-0.7% y/y), down for the fourth straight month. Inventories of furniture, electronics and appliances declined 0.9% (-1.9% y/y), the fifth m/m decline this year. As reported last week, wholesale inventories edged 0.1% higher (5.1% y/y) following a 0.3% rise. Factory sector inventories also rose 0.1% (5.1% y/y) following a 0.2% gain.

Retail sales held steady in June (5.8% y/y) with non-auto sales easing slightly (+6.5% y/y) after a 1.2% jump. Wholesale sector sales slipped 0.1% (+10.2% y/y) after improving 2.1%. Shipments from the factory sector surged 1.0% (8.4% y/y) following a 0.6% rise.

The overall business inventory-to-sales (I/S) ratio rose to 1.35. In the retail sector, the ratio held steady at 1.43 in June, down sharply from the levels averaged during the prior two years. The non-auto I/S ratio was steady at 1.20, its lowest level since early-2012. The ratio peaked at 1.29 early in 2016. The wholesale sector I/S ratio was stable at 1.25, its lowest level since November 2014. The manufacturing sector I/S ratio declined to 1.33, its lowest point in three years.

The manufacturing and trade data are in Haver's USECON database.