Wholesale inventories up 0.4% in December, vs 0.2% gain estimate

• U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.4 percent in December.
• Wholesale inventories beat estimates of 0.2 percent growth for the month.
• The Commerce Department's measure of wholesale inventories rose 0.6 percent in the last reading in November.

A warehouse of processed soybeans ready for shipment at Peterson Farms Seed facility in Fargo, North Dakota.

Dan Koeck | Reuters

U.S. wholesale inventories grew at a faster rate than expected in December, though still slower than the month before.

The Commerce Department's survey of wholesalers' inventories increased 0.4 percent in December to a value of $612.1 billion, beating estimates of 0.2 percent from a survey of Reuters economists.

In November, the amount of unsold inventories on wholesalers' shelves jumped 0.6 percent, rebounding from an October decline that snapped a six-month streak of gains. The November figure was revised down from 0.8 percent in an advance report released Friday.

At current levels, it would take wholesalers 1.22 months to clear their shelves, a faster pace than the year-ago ratio of 1.29.

The monthly metric is built from a survey of about 4,200 U.S. wholesale firms.