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Inventories at the nation’s wholesalers fell 0.2 percent in February as higher sales helped businesses clear goods from warehouses, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
Falling inventories can be a positive sign because of increasing demand–or they could indicate wholesalers don’t believe sales will pick up and are slow to replenish stocks.
Analysts said February’s figures show an economy muddling along. While wholesale sales rose 0.8 percent in February, the inventory decline may be linked to businesses being able to ship goods that had been stuck in warehouses because of snow.
Still, “that’s a good sign for future growth,” said Roseanne Cahn, chief equity economist at CS First Boston in New York.
