US Wholesale Inventories Rise 0.7% in September, Beating Estimates

U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.7% in September to about $1.013 trillion, above the initial 0.6% estimate, extending a run of monthly increases and putting stocks 7.6% above a year earlier. Gains included electrical goods and hardware—potentially reflecting AI-related investment—and a sharp rise in petroleum inventories; inventory investment contributed 1.61 percentage points to third-quarter economic growth. Wholesale sales jumped 2.8%, bringing the inventory-to-sales ratio down to 1.21 months, compared with 1.34 a year earlier.