--US January business inventories +0.4%; sales unchanged
--US January inventory/sales ratio at 1.37; Dec unchanged at 1.36
--US January retailer inventories +0.6%; autos +0.9%
--US January retail durable stock/sales ratio at 2.00; Dec 2.01
--US Jan retail nondurable stock/sales ratio at 1.09; Dec 1.10

By Andrew Williams
Washington, March 14 (BridgeNews) - U.S. business inventories grew an unexpected 0.4% in January. The rise in inventories at factories, wholesalers and retailers was double the consensus estimate for a 0.2% gain. Business sales were flat, raising the inventory-to-sales ratio at 1.37 in January, the highest since March 1999.
* * * According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, inventories at retailers were up 0.6%.
The retail inventory figure provides the final snapshot of U.S. inventory activity for the month. As previously reported, factory inventories rose 0.7%, while wholesale inventories dropped 0.3%. In the retail sector, automotive stocks jumped 0.9%, after having been reported up 0.1% in December.
Excluding autos, retail inventories were up 0.4%.
STOCK-TO-SALES RATIO
Retailers' inventories/sales ratio fell to 1.46 for January, from 1.47 the previous month.
Within retail, the durable goods ratio fell to 2.00, from 2.01, while the nondurable goods ratio fell to 1.09, from 1.10 the prior month. End
WHAT WAS EXPECTED
In a survey of 20 economists by BridgeNews, the spread of estimates for January business inventories ranged from unchanged to up 0.4%. End Copyright 2001 Bridge Information Systems Inc. All rights reserved.