US business inventories remain disappointingly flat in August

US business inventories in August fell flat for the second consecutive month, figures released on Wednesday showed.

According to data released by the Commerce Department, business inventories did not registered any growth in August, falling short of analysts' expectations for a 0.1% gain.

Business inventories were also flat in the previous month, after July's figure was revised downward to show growth at 0%.

"Modestly stronger-than-expected nonautomotive retail inventories in August, along with upward revisions to July, suggest a better pace of inventory investment in the third quarter than we had expected prior to this report," analysts at Barclays said.

"As a result, our third quarter GDP tracking estimate rose two-tenths, to 1.2%.