Business Inventories Unchanged, Inventories-To-Sales Ratio Unchanged

Businesses are holding back inventory growth as sales growth stalls. Total inventories were unchanged in August against only a 0.2 percent rise in sales, a modest mismatch that isn't enough to move the inventories-to-sales ratio which held unchanged at a lean and favorable 1.40.

Inventories relative to sales look stable right across components with retailers showing the only change and that's downward, with this ratio a bit more lean at 1.44 versus 1.45 in July.

When it comes to production and employment, nimble inventory management helps smooth out disruptions from economic ups and downs, yet however positive this may be for general economic health a slowing inventory build does hold down GDP growth.