The Commerce Department said on Friday inventories fell 0.2 percent, the largest decline since September 2011, after a downwardly revised 0.1 percent dip in October. Inventories in October were previously reported to have been unchanged. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast inventories slipping 0.1 percent in November. Inventories are a key component of gross domestic product.

Retail inventories excluding autos, which go into the calculation of GDP, rose 0.2 percent in November after a downwardly revised 0.3 percent gain in October. They were previously reported to have increased 0.4 percent in October.

A record inventory accumulation in the first half of 2015, which outstripped demand, left businesses saddled with unsold merchandise and little incentive to order more goods. That has contributed to a sharp slowdown in manufacturing activity.

Inventories subtracted 0.71 percentage point from third-quarter GDP, limiting the rise in output to a 2.0 percent annualized rate. Fourth-quarter GDP growth estimates range between a 0.5 percent and 1.4 percent pace.

In November, business sales fell 0.2 percent after declining 0.3 percent in October. At November's sales pace, it would take 1.38 months for businesses to clear shelves, unchanged from October.

The still lofty ratio suggests businesses could continue working through the inventory bloat for a while, and hold back GDP growth.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)