WASHINGTON — Business inventories were up 0.3% to $1,550.1 billion in November, while sales rose 0.3% to $1,220.9 billion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
The November gain in inventories followed an unrevised 0.8% gain in October and was slightly lower than the median 0.4% increase estimated by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
Inventories increased 8.5% from November 2010.
The 0.3% gain in sales in November followed a revised 0.6% increase in October and was 9.6% higher than sales in November 2010.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of November was 1.27, the same as in October. The ratio is the highest since July, when it was 1.28. The November 2010 ratio was also 1.28.
