U.S. business inventories fell as expected in January, suggesting that any lift to gross domestic product in the first quarter from a shrinking trade deficit was likely to be offset by a slow pace of inventory accumulation.
The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that business inventories slipped 0.1per cent in January after being unchanged in December. Inventories are a key component of gross domestic product. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast inventories would dip 0.1per cent in January.Retail inventories were unchanged in January as estimated in an advance report published last month. That followed a 0.1per cent fall in December. Motor vehicle inventories dropped 0.
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