Wholesale Sales Up 0.6%; Inventories Rise 0.6%

WASHINGTON — Wholesale inventories rose 0.6% in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That followed a revised 1.7% rise in May.

Wholesale sales were also up 0.6% for the month, following a revised 0.3% drop in May.

Inventories of durable goods were up 1.3% and non-durable goods were down 0.4%. Sales of durables rose 1.6% and sales of non-durables fell 0.2%.

The June inventories-to-sales ratio was 1.16, unchanged from May.

The median estimate from the Thomson Reuters poll of economists was a 1.0% rise in inventories and a 0.3% increase in sales.

Auto sales were up 8.7%, their biggest increase since a 10.9% jump in June 2009. Auto inventories rose 4.3%.

Computer and software inventories rose 3.5%.

In non-durable goods, inventories of farm products fell 6.2% from May. Petroleum inventories fell 4.0%.

The wholesale report is not adjusted for the price effects of petroleum and agricultural products.

Finally, sales of beer, wine, and distilled spirits were up 4.0% in June.

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