Business inventories in the U.S. climb 0.2% in October

Business inventories in the U.S. rose 0.2% in October, the Commerce Department said Friday. Sales slipped 0.1% in the month. The ratio of inventories to sales, meanwhile, was unchanged at 1.4. That's how many months it would take to sell all the inventory on hand. One year ago, the inventory-to-sales ratio was 1.36. An increase in inventories adds to gross domestic product and is usually a sign of an expanding economy. The decline in inventories in September was lowered to 0.1% from an original 0.2% drop.