By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. business inventories rose 0.3% in June as sales fell 0.6%, the Commerce Department said Friday. The monthly inventory report rarely moves financial markets, mostly because many of the numbers have been previously reported. Economists, however, find the data useful to project quarterly growth. The only new information in the report showed that retail inventories, excluding autos, were flat in June. This may cause economists to trim their estimate of second-quarter gross domestic product a bit further. Prior to today's report, Wall Street economists had already slashed their Q2 GDP growth estimates to about a 1.3% annual rate from the government's initial estimate of a 2.4% rise on weaker-than-expected trade and wholesale and factory inventory data for June. The preliminary government estimate projected a small increase in retail inventories ex-autos in June. The government's revised Q2 GDP estimate will be released on Aug. 27.
