The Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that business inventories decreased 0.2 percent m-o-m in April, following a revised 0.2 percent m-o-m gain in March (originally a 0.3 percent m-o-m advance).

That was worse than economists’ forecast for a 0.1 percent m-o-m drop and marked the first decline since June 2020.

According to the report, stocks at retailers declined 1.8 percent m-o-m, while inventories at wholesalers rose 0.8 percent m-o-m and that at manufacturers edged up 0.3 percent m-o-m.

In y-o-y terms, business inventories increased 1.3 percent in April.