Wholesale Inventories Up 0.6%; Sales Rise 2.3% in November

WASHINGTON — Sales of merchant wholesalers jumped 2.3% to $419.3 billion in November, the biggest jump since a 3.1% gain in March 2011, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Inventories were up 0.6% to $498.9 billion for November after rising a revised 0.3% the previous month, originally reported as a 0.6% gain, Commerce said.

The November increase in sales followed a revised 0.9% drop in October and was much steeper than the median 0.5% increase projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.

Sales of durable goods were up 2.7% and sales of non-durable goods rose 2.0%, with increases of 2.8% in both sales of motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts and sales of computer peripheral equipment and software. Sales of farm product raw materials were up 7.8%. Apparel sales were up 5.0% from the previous month. There were no declines in sales.

The November sales figure was up 5.6% above the level for the same month a year ago.

The November increase in inventories outpaced the median 0.3% increase the economists projected, with durables up 0.4% and nondurables up 0.8%. Inventories for drugs were up 4.2%, groceries gained 2.3% and petroleum increased 1.3%. There were inventory declines in apparel, off 0.6%, paper, down 0.4%, and metals fell 0.3%.

The November inventory level was 7.0% above the level of a year ago.

November's inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers' sales branches and offices, was 1.19, a decrease from October's 1.21 ratio but higher than the 1.17 ratio a year ago.

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