Washington, DC, Apr. 13--Inventories at U.S. businesses posted their largest gain in more than three years in February, exceeding analyst expectations, government data showed on Tuesday.
The Commerce Department said inventories surged 0.7 percent in the month after an upwardly revised 0.2 percent climb in January. February's rise was the largest gain since August 2000 and the sixth consecutive monthly advance.
Wall Street had expected stocks to rise 0.5 percent.
Business sales advanced 0.5 percent after January's 0.3 percent increase, which was initially reported at 0.4 percent.
Retail inventories, the main new information in the report, climbed 0.4 percent after being unchanged in January.
The stock-to-sales ratio, which measures how long it would take to work down inventories at the current sales pace, was steady at a record low 1.33 months' worth.
