Business inventories rose 0.2% to $1.752 trillion in August, while sales decreased 0.4% to $1.353 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
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The August inventory rise followed an unrevised 0.4% gain in July while sales were up a revised 0.7% in July, first reported as a 0.8% increase.
On a year-over-year basis, inventories climbed 5.7% over the same month in 2013, while sales grew 4.5% in that period.
The total business inventories/sales ratio, based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of August, was 1.29, unchanged from the previous month's 1.29 ratio. The inventory/sales ratio for August 2013 was 1.28.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected a 0.4% increase in inventories.
