U.S. Wholesale Inventories Rise In Line With Estimates In November

(RTTNews) - Wholesale inventories in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of November, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday.

The report said wholesale inventories rose 0.5 percent in November following a revised 1.3 percent increase in October. Inventories were up 3.3 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

Inventories of durable goods and non-durable goods both increased by 0.5 percent compared to the previous month.

The Commerce Department also said wholesale sales increased by 1.0 percent in November after rising by 1.1 percent in October. Wholesale sales surged up 5.5 percent year-over-year.

A 2.1 percent jump in sales of non-durable goods more than offset a 0.4 percent decrease in sales of durable goods.

With sales increasing at a faster rate than inventories, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers edged down to 1.17 in November from 1.18 in October.