: Business inventories in U.S. drop 0.1% in October

Businesses inventories, or products waiting to be sold, fell 0.1% in October, the government said Thursday. That matched the forecast of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. Lower inventories are typically a negative sign and subtract from gross domestic product. The government also said sales also dropped 1.0% in the month. The ratio of inventories to sales ticked up to 1.37 from 1.36. That’s how many months it would take to sell all the inventory on hand. A rising ratio can occur when the economy slows and demand tapers off. Yet while the economy appears to have softened, it’s still growing at a moderate pace.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.