Business inventories rose 0.6% to $1.728 trillion in April, while sales increased 0.7% to $1.337 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
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The April inventory rise followed a 0.4% gain in March while sales were up 1.1% in March.
On a year-over-year basis, inventories climbed 5.0% over the same month in 2013, while sales grew 5.4% in that period.
The total business inventories/sales ratio, based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of April, was 1.29, unchanged from the previous month's 1.29 ratio. The inventory/sales ratio for April 2013 was 1.30.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected a 0.4% increase in inventories.
