U.S. wholesale inventories reportedly fell at their fastest pace in nearly three years in February,pointing to a sharper slowdown in first-quarter economic growth than previously thought.
Figures released Friday by the U.S. Commerce Department show that wholesale inventories dropped 0.5% in February,, the sharpest decline since May 2013. Analysts expected a 0.1% decline.
The government also revised its reading for January to show a 0.2% decline in inventories rather than a 0.2% rise.
Inventories provide a key component of gross domestic product changes. The component of wholesale inventories that goes into the calculation of GDP - wholesale stocks excluding autos - dropped 0.4% in February.
Economists generally expect the economy grew at less than a 1% annual rate in the first quarter, down from a 1.4% rate in the last three months of 2015.
