Business inventories rose 0.3% to $1.756 trillion in September, while sales were unchanged at $1.353 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
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The September inventory rise followed a revised 0.1% gain in August, first reported as 0.2% growth, while sales were down a revised 0.5% in August, first reported as a 0.4% decrease.
On a year-over-year basis, inventories climbed 5.3% over the same month in 2013, while sales grew 4.1% in that period.
The total business inventories/sales ratio, based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of September, was 1.30, unchanged from the previous month's 1.30 ratio. The inventory/sales ratio for September 2013 was 1.28.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected a 0.2% increase in inventories.
