The Commerce
Department reported on Friday that the U.S. business inventories dropped 0.2
per cent m-o-m in December
2024, following an unrevised
0.1 per cent m-o-m uptick in November 2024. This was worse
than economists’ estimate of a zero per cent change and marked
the first monthly decrease in business
inventories since March 2024 (-0.1 per cent m-o-m).
According to
the report, stocks at merchant
wholesalers declined by 0.5 per cent m-o-m in December and those at retailers fell
by 0.4 per cent m-o-m. Meanwhile, inventories
at manufacturers jumped by 0.4 per cent m-o-m
In y-o-y terms,
business inventories climbed 2.0 per cent in December.