Business inventories rose 0.2% to $1.764 trillion in November, while sales were down 0.2% to $1.346 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
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The November inventory rise followed an unrevised 0.2% gain in October, while sales were revised down to a 0.3% decline from the originally reported 0.1% dip in October.
On a year-over-year basis, inventories climbed 4.4% over the same month in 2013, while sales grew 2.2% in that period.
The total business inventories/sales ratio, based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of November, was 1.31, unchanged from the previous month's 1.31 ratio. The inventory/sales ratio for November 2013 was 1.28.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected a 0.2% increase in inventories.
