Business inventories barely rise, suggest first quarter GDP contraction

U.S. business inventories barely rose in March as sales recorded their biggest gain in eight months, the latest indication that the economy actually contracted in the first quarter. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday business inventories edged up 0.1 percent after a downwardly revised 0.2 percent gain in February. Retail inventories excluding autos, which go into the calculation of GDP, ticked up 0.1 percent in March. The government estimated that inventories added 0.74 percentage point t