WASHINGTON — Wholesale inventories were up 1.1% in March as wholesale sales rose 2.9% the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
The rise in wholesale sales was the largest since the 3.3% increase in January of this year. The inventories gain was the biggest since a 1.2% rise in December 2010.
Economists expected a 1.0% increase in inventories and a 1.5% gain in sales, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The wholesale inventory-to-sales ratio edged down to 1.13 in March from a revised 1.15 in February.
The February sales number was revised to a 0.3% decline from the original report of an 0.8% drop. February’s inventory number was unchanged at a 1.0% increase.
March durable goods inventories rose 0.4% and non-durable goods inventories were up 2.0%.
