Inventories fell 0.7percentt, a ninth consecutive decline that left supplies at a two-year low.
Deutsche Telekom, the largest phone company in Europe, reported a fifth consecutive decline in quarterly profit after a strike led to more fixed-line customer losses.
That suggested a slowdown in housing activity, coming on the heels of a report on Monday that showed a third consecutive decline in homebuilders' confidence in April.
A weakening manufacturing sector and expectations of a third consecutive decline in employment this month suggest the economy has yet to revive from its Iraq war slump.
It is now a racing certainty that this year will see a third consecutive decline in American share prices, the worst run since the depression of the 1930s.The chief culprits are the bursting of the biggest-ever stockmarket bubble and well-justified gloom over world economic prospects.
Combined with a 10th consecutive decline in factory inventories, the report suggests increased production in coming months.
Wholesale auto prices fell 0.6percentt, as carmakers offered rebates amid a second consecutive decline in monthly sales.
Higher international sales helped to counter a second consecutive decline in revenue from North America, mainly because of the lower-than-expected sales in the United States of Simply White.
While the overall size of the benefit rolls has been marching steadily higher, the number of workers submitting new claims for state unemployment aid dropped unexpectedly last week, a second consecutive decline.
The Colgate-Palmolive Company said yesterday that fourth-quarter profit increased 9.2percentt, exceeding expectations, as higher international sales helped to counter a second consecutive decline in revenue from North America.
