U.S. wholesale businesses left their inventories unchanged as their sales fell in July.
Figures released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department revealed that wholesalers left their stockpiles alone in July after increasing them 0.3%in June. Their sales fell 0.4% in July, reversing a 1.7% increase in June -- the biggest sales drop since January.
The July numbers show stress in the energy industry, which has been pinched by low oil and gas prices. Petroleum wholesalers reduced inventories by 1.2% and recorded a 3.5% drop in sales in July.
Experts say weak inventory restocking has been a drag on U.S. economic growth. From April through June, businesses overall reduced inventories at the fastest pace since the fall of 2011, providing one reason second-quarter economic growth in the States came in at a lacklustre 1.1%
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