U.S. wholesale inventories unexpectedly dip 0.2% in June

With inventories of motor vehicles and parts showing a notable decrease, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing an unexpected drop in wholesale inventories in the month of June.

The report showed that wholesale inventories dipped by 0.2 percent following a revised 0.6 percent decrease in May.

The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected inventories to increase by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.5 percent decline originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department said inventories of motor vehicles and parts fell by 1.5 percent, while inventories of apparel and farm products also showed notable decreases.

The decreases were partly offset by a 2.1 percent jump in inventories of computer and computer peripheral equipment and software.

Meanwhile, the report also showed that wholesale sales increased by 0.4 percent in June after climbing by 1.5 percent in June.

Sales of petroleum and petroleum products jumped by 5.3 percent, while sales of electrical and electronic goods surged up by 3.7 percent.

On the other hand, the Commerce Department said sales of grocery and related products were down 1.8 percent from the previous month.

With inventories falling and sales rising, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers edged down to 1.17 in June from 1.18 in May. The ratio came in at 1.20 in June of 2012.

The report also showed that wholesale sales were up by 2.9 percent compared to the same month a year ago, while wholesales sales were up by 5.6 percent year-over-year.