Racks of women's t-shirts are stacked in the warehouse at the Sledge USA clothing factory in Los Angeles October 13, 2009. U.S. store chains are hedging a major bet they made this year by slashing inventories, sometimes as much as 25 percent, to make sure
Racks of women's t-shirts are stacked in the warehouse at the Sledge USA clothing factory in Los Angeles October 13, 2009. U.S. store chains are hedging a major bet they made this year by slashing inventories, sometimes as much as 25 percent, to make sure they do not get stuck with a glut of merchandise for a second consecutive year. Reuters

U.S. business inventories edged up 0.7 percent in October ( below expectations for an 0.8 percent rise) and slower than the 1.4 percent increase in sales, the Commerce Department reported.

The inventory-to-sales ratio, a reflection of demand, fell slightly to 1.27 in October from 1.28 in September.

Retail inventories dropped 0.6 percent in October, versus a 1.8 percent increase in sales.
The inventory-to-sales ratio in retail slipped to 1.35 in October from 1.38 in September (The figure was at 1.38 a year ago).

Also, business inventories from September were upwardly revised to show a 1.3 percent gain from the previous forecast of a 0.9 percent increase.