Wholesale inventories and sales rise

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. wholesale inventories rose 1.4 percent in October on a seasonally adjusted basis to $514.1 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau said Tuesday.

Inventories were up 3.3 percent from October 2012, the bureau said.

Wholesale sales also gained, climbing 1 percent from September to $435.3 billion, 6.4 percent higher than October 2012, the U.S. Commerce Department agency said.

Sales of durable goods were unchanged month-to-month, but up 7.5 percent from October 2012.

Sales of non-durable goods rose 1.8 percent from September and rose 5.5 percent from 12 months earlier.

The October inventories-to-sales ratio for wholesalers, seasonally adjusted, was 1.18, a drop from October 2012, when the ratio was 1.22.