WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- U.S. wholesale inventories slipped by 0.5 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted $500.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday.
Inventories were up 3.3 percent from March 2012 levels, the bureau said.
Wholesale sales rose 1.6 percent from April to May to $424.6 billion, which is 4.1 percent higher than May 2012, the U.S. Commerce Department agency said.
Sales of durable goods rose 0.3 percent month to month and were up 3.7 percent from March 2012. Sales of non-durable goods rose 2.8 percent from April and 4.3 percent from last May.
Sales of vehicles and automobile parts rose 3 percent from April, while sales of metals and minerals, excluding petroleum, were down 4.5 percent.
The May inventories-to-sales ratio for wholesalers, seasonally adjusted, was 1.18, the bureau said. The May 2012 ratio was 1.19.
