WASHINGTON - Sales of merchant wholesalers were $406 billion, up 0.9% in October, following a revised 0.3% gain the previous month, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
October sales were up 13.1% from the October 2010 level. The 0.9% gain in sales for October was much higher than the median 0.5% increase projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.
Inventories were $470.2 billion, up 1.6% for the month, after being revised to a flat level from August to September. The October gain was the highest since May, when inventories were up 1.7%.
The October level of inventories was up 10.9% from the October 2010 level. The 1.6% gain for the month was much higher than the median 0.3% increase estimated by economists.
The October inventories/sales ratio was 1.16, up from 1.15 ratio for September, but lower than the 1.18 ratio a year ago, when it was last higher than the ratio for October of this year.
