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Companies add to inventories for third consecutive month

Monday, Sept. 16, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. companies added to their stocks of unsold goods in July for the third month in a row, a dose of good news for the struggling economic recovery.

The Commerce Department reported today that stockpiles of goods on shelves and back lots rose to a seasonally adjusted $1.1 trillion in July, a 0.4 percent increase from June's level.

At the same time, businesses' sales went up by a strong 1.2 percent in July, the biggest gain in three months.

The rebuilding of stocks comes after a more than yearlong string of inventory reductions by businesses as they tried to cope with a slump that sapped demand and led to a pileup of unsold goods.

With the massive inventory liquidation over, factories are in a better position to ramp-up production, a benefit for the economic recovery.

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