Wholesale inventories in the U.S. increased by less than anticipated in the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.
The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories rose by 0.3 percent in March after climbing by 0.9 percent in February. Economists had expected wholesale inventories to increase by 0.5 percent.
The weaker than expected growth in inventories came as a 0.8 percent increase in inventories of durable goods was partly offset by a 0.4 percent drop in inventories of non-durable goods.
The report also said wholesale sales climbed by 0.3 percent in March after jumping by 1.1 percent in the previous month.
Wholesale sales of non-durable goods surged up by 1.0 percent, while wholesale sales of durable goods fell by 0.3 percent.
With inventories and sales both rising, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers was unchanged from the previous month at 1.26.
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