WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Total U.S. business inventories rose 0.8 percent in December, in line with economists' expectations, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
Inventories for manufacturers rose 1.1 from November. For wholesale trades, inventories rose 1 percent. Retail inventories rose 0.4 percent in the month, the report said.
Sales on the wholesale level rose 1.1 percent in the month to $1.1 trillion.
Over the past 12 months, the inventory-sales ratio for all business dropped slightly from 1.26 in December 2009 to 1.25 in December 2010.
The ratio indicates how long it would take to sell all inventory at current prices and attempts to indicate whether inventories are rising due to an anticipation of sales or, conversely, a decline in sales that is causing an inventory backlog.
