U.S. business inventories, a category that includes retailers and merchant wholesalers in addition to manufacturers, were at a seasonally adjusted $1.37 trillion at the end of October, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Dec. 13.
The month-end figure for October this year was four-tenths of a percentage point higher than September's month-end figure of $1.36 trillion and 7.3% higher than the October 2005 month-end figure of $1.27 trillion.
The inventory to sales ratio was 1.31 in October of this year; in October 2005 it was 1.26.
