U.S. business inventories unexpectedly rose in September amid flat sales, suggesting the government's third-quarter economic growth estimate could be
revised higher later this month.
The Commerce Department said on Friday inventories increased 0.3 percent after an upwardly revised 0.1 percent gain in August. Inventories in August were previously reported to have been unchanged.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast inventories being unchanged in September.
Inventories are a key component of gross domestic product.
Retail inventories excluding autos, which go into the calculation of GDP, increased 0.5 percent in September after a similar rise in August.
September's increase in inventories excluding autos was more than the government estimated in its advance GDP report last month. That report estimated that inventories sliced off 1.44 percentage points from GDP growth in the third quarter, leaving output expanding at a 1.5 percent annual rate.