Highlights

Business inventories increased 0.3% in April after falling 0.1% in March. The Briefing.com consensus expected inventory levels to increase 0.2%.

Key Factors

Inventory growth from manufacturers (0.2%) and merchant wholesalers (0.2%) was known prior to the release. The only new information was that retailer inventories increased 0.4% in April after declining 0.6% in March.
Retail inventories at motor vehicles and parts dealers rose 0.5% and contributed most of the overall retailer gain.
Total business sales contracted for a second consecutive month as sales fell 0.1% in April after declining 1.2% in March. The decline in sales suggests that the gain inventories may not have been planned.
The inventory-to-sales ratio increased to 1.31 in April from 1.30 in March. That is the highest ratio since 2009.

Business inventories include wholesale inventories, manufacturing inventories, and retail inventories. Inventories are a component of GDP, and thus are of interest to economists, but the financial markets don't pay much attention to this release. Over the long term, the inventory-to-sales ratio has been declining, due to improving techniques for inventory management. Inventories are likely to decline over the near term to bring inventory-to-sales ratios back into line with company desires. Inventories will rise once sales pick up.

Category	APR	MAR	FEB	JAN	DEC
Inventories	0.3%	-0.1%	0.0%	1.0%	0.1%
Manufacturers	0.2%	0.0%	0.2%	0.5%	0.1%
Retailers	0.4%	-0.6%	0.2%	1.5%	0.5%
Wholesalers	0.2%	0.3%	-0.4%	1.1%	-0.2%
Sales	-0.1%	-1.2%	1.3%	-0.2%	0.1%
Manufacturers	-0.7%	-1.5%	1.3%	0.1%	0.0%
Retailers	0.0%	-0.4%	1.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Wholesalers	0.5%	-1.4%	1.3%	-0.9%	0.3%
Inventory/Sales	1.31	1.30	1.29	1.30	1.29
Manufacturers	1.31	1.30	1.28	1.29	1.29
Retailers	1.41	1.40	1.40	1.42	1.40
Wholesalers	1.21	1.22	1.19	1.21	1.19