Wholesale Inventories Fall for Ninth Month

Wholesale inventories fell in May for the ninth consecutive month, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The 0.8% decline followed a revised 1.3% downturn in March, Commerce said. Wholesale sales rose 0.2%.

Economists had forecast inventories to fall 1%, Bloomberg reported.

Wholesale inventories account for about a fourth of total business stockpiles, while retailers and factories account for the rest.