WASHINGTON, April 16 (UPI) -- U.S. business inventories rose 0.3 percent to $1.37 trillion while business sales rose 0.4 percent to $1.1 trillion, the Commerce Department said Monday.
February's inventory growth followed an unrevised 0.2 percent increase in January, the department said. January's sales decreased 0.9 percent, a 0.2 point steeper decline than the originally reported 0.7 percent drop.
The inventory-to-sales ratio -- which measures how many months it would take a firm to sell all current inventory -- was steady at 1.29 in February, the department said.
Year-to-year, inventories outpaced sales 5.9 percent in 12 months compared with a 2.9 percent demand rise.
Manufacturers' stockpiles were unchanged in February and January, the department said.
Wholesalers' inventories increased 0.5 percent after January's 0.6 percent increase. Retailers' inventories climbed 0.3 percent after January's 0.1 percent increase.
Auto-dealer inventories fell 0.7 percent after rising 0.2 percent in January. Their inventory-to-sales ratio edged back to 2 months in February after being 2.03 in January. It was 2.07 in February 2006.
