Wholesale Inventories Rose 0.5% in June, Slighty Above Forecasts

Inventories on U.S. wholesalers' shelves rose 0.5 percent in June, slightly more than expected, mainly due to larger stocks of automobile and nondurable goods, government data showed on Wednesday.

Wholesale inventories rose to $398.5 billion in June, the Commerce Department said. Economists polled by Reuters forecast that wholesale inventories would rise 0.4 percent, Inventories also rose 0.5 percent in May.

Sales rose 0.6 percent to $359.5 billion after a 1.3 percent rise the previous month. The sales numbers were pulled up by gains in most categories.

The stocks-to-sales ratio -- a measure of how long it would take to deplete stocks at the current sales pace -- was 1.11 month's worth in June, matching the record low set in May.