While the U.S. Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that wholesale inventories increased in line with estimates in the month of March, the report also showed a sharp drop in wholesale sales for the month.
The report said wholesale inventories increased by 0.4 percent in March following a 0.3 percent decrease in February. The modest rebound by inventories matched economist estimates.
The increase came as inventories of durable goods rose by 0.5 percent amid notable growth in inventories of hardware, and plumbing and heating equipment and supplies and motor vehicles and parts.
Inventories of non-durable goods edged up by 0.1 percent, as a jump in inventories of apparel, piece goods, and notions was offset by a sharp drop in inventories of petroleum and petroleum products.
The report also showed that wholesale sales tumbled by 1.6 percent in March after surging up by 1.5 percent in February.
The Commerce Department said sales of non-durable goods plunged by 2.5 percent amid sharp drops in sales of petroleum and petroleum products and apparel, piece goods, and notions.
Sales of durable goods fell by 0.6 percent due in large part to a notable decrease in sales of metals and minerals.
With inventories rising and sales falling, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers rose to 1.21 in March from 1.19 in February. The ratio came in at 1.17 in March of 2012.
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