The retail trade, which functions to retain the lowest possible inventory, is beginning to experience stock-outs.
S&P reports that companies are implementing contingency measures including inventory boosts, warehouse relocations, and supply chain adjustments.
Some economists say the rate will be difficult to sustain in the third quarter. Fed officials forecast yearlong GDP growth of under 3%.
The price of the benchmark crude dropped to the lowest level since OPEC countries agreed to cut output by 1.8 million bpd in the first half of 2017.
But the retailer's net sales declined for a fourth straight quarter due to declining traffic in its brick-and-mortar stores.
The pace of economic expansion has now been around 1% for three straight quarters but economists see some drags on growth fading.
The NFIB's Index of Small Business Optimism rose just two-tenths of a percentage point in May to 93.8.
The unexpected increase suggests "plenty of inventory pain remains in the pipeline," with inventory growth continuing to outstrip sales growth.
The dip in GDP may not signal a long-term slowdown because some impediments to growth in Q4, including inventories, were only temporary.
Businesses trimmed stockpiles of unsold merchandise after a record back-to-back increase in inventories in the first two quarters of this year.
The third-quarter numbers from the Commerce Department show a reduction in business inventories but a robust increase in consumer spending.
