U.S. Business Inventories Rise in March

Business inventories in the United States increased during March, official data by the Department of Commerce showed on Friday.

The increase in inventories in March was relatively limited due to raw materials shortage that impacted production across some sectors.

In March, business inventories leveled up by 0.3% with the reading meeting market expectations.

The reading follows a 0.6% rise in February, and shows that it remained unchanged on an annual basis.

Meanwhile, retail inventories declined by 1.4%, after increasing by 0.1% in February.

The inventories of motor vehicles dropped by 6.1%, with the supply chain disruptions and an international shortage of semiconductors affecting production.

Aside from the auto sector, other retail inventories that are counted in the calculation of the gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.6%, meeting initial estimates.

It is worth noting that in March wholesale inventories increased by 1.3%.