Inventories at U.S. wholesalers rose more than forecast in August as companies kept stockpiles in line with demand. The 0.8 percent increase in the value of inventories followed a revised 1.5 percent gain in July that was more than initially estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Sales rose 0.5 percent after a 0.8 percent gain a month earlier. The amount of goods on hand compared with sales suggests manufacturing will keep expanding, providing a lift for the economy. Even so inventory rebuilding, which helped the U.S. recover from the worst recession since the 1930s, will probably contribute less to growth as consumers refrain for ramping up spending. “Inventories will inch higher but they’re not going to be a big driver of growth,” Andrew Gretzinger, a senior economist at MFC Global Investment Management in Toronto, said before the report. An earlier report today showed the U.S. lost more jobs than forecast in September. Payrolls fell by 95,000 during the month, while the unemployment rate held at 9.6 percent, the Labor Department said. Economists forecast inventories would increase 0.5 percent after a previously reported 1.3 percent gain in July, according to the median of 34 projections in a Bloomberg survey. Estimates ranged from increases of 0.2 percent to 0.8 percent. Wholesalers make up about 30 percent of all business stockpiles. Factory inventories, which comprise more of the total, rose 0.1 percent in August, the Commerce Department said Oct. 4. Retail stockpiles, which make up the rest, will be included in the Oct. 15 business inventories report. Durable Goods Today’s report showed wholesalers’ stockpiles of durable goods, or those meant to last several years, increased 0.6 percent in August, led by furniture, electrical equipment and hardware. The value of unsold non-durable goods rose 1.2 percent and sales increased 0.5 percent. Sales and inventories of petroleum products advanced in August from the previous month. At the current sales pace, wholesalers had enough goods on hand to last 1.16 months in August, the same as a month earlier. The inventory-to-sales ratio reached a record low of 1.13 months in April. The need to restock depleted inventories, which was a major driver of the start of the economic recovery, will diminish in coming months as companies try to keep inventories more in line with demand. ‘Little Bit Bumpy’ John Chambers, chief executive officer of San Jose, California-based Cisco Systems Inc., last week said economic conditions appeared “a little bit bumpy.” Cisco, the world’s largest maker of networking equipment, “saw the market returning to more normal growth rates,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “In Business With Margaret Brennan.” Most chief executives Cisco talks to are projecting economic growth of 2 percent or less, he said, “and that means they’ll probably spend appropriately and also hire appropriately.” Some retailers are adding to stockpiles in anticipation spending will be sustained. “The customer is trying to get out there a little more, though they’re going to be cautious,” James Skinner, chief financial officer of Neiman-Marcus Group Inc., said on a teleconference on Sept. 30. “What we need to do is start engaging them, still maintaining tight, controlled inventory, but with a little more aggressiveness than last year.” Public opinion polls show jobs and the economy are top concerns among voters weeks before the November congressional elections in which Democrats are at risk of losing their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate. President Barack Obama’s job approval ratings have slipped, with it at 46 percent in the three-day period that ended Sept. 30, compared with 52 percent the same time last year, according to a poll from Princeton, New Jersey-based Gallup Inc. To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Schlisserman in Washington at cschlisserma@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net

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