WASHINGTON — Business inventories were up 0.8% to $1,546.4 billion in October, while sales rose 0.7% to $1,217.9 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
The October gain in inventories was the highest since May when they were up 0.9% and was slightly lower than the median 0.9% increase estimated by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
Inventories were unrevised at an unchanged pace in September.
The increase in inventories was 8.7% from October 2010.
The 0.7% gain in sales was the highest since July when they were also up 0.7% and followed a 0.6% rise in September. Sales increased 10.9% from October 2010.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of October was 1.27, the highest since July, when it was 1.28.
