Inventories Up 0.8%; Sales Increase 1.1%

WASHINGTON — Business inventories increased 0.8% in December, while sales jumped 1.1%, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Inventories for November were revised higher to an increase of 0.4% from a 0.2% gain in November. November sales rose 1.4%.

Retail business inventories rose 0.4% in December after being flat in November.

Economists expected inventories would increase 0.7%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.

The inventories-to-sales ratio stayed steady at 1.25. The ratio was 1.27 in October and 1.26 in December 2009.

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