WASHINGTON — Business inventories rose 0.3% to $1,621.5 billion in November, while sales jumped 1% to $1,271.6 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
The November inventory gain followed a revised 0.3% uptick in October, originally reported as a 0.4% advance. The November increase matched the expectations of economists polled by Thomson Reuters, who predicted a 0.3% gain. Inventories climbed 5.5% over the same month in 2011.
The spike in November sales followed a revised 0.3% decrease in October, originally reported as a 0.4% drop. November sales were 4.3% above sales for the same month in 2011.
The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of November was 1.28, the same as the previous month's figure but above the 1.26 November 2011 ratio
