Wholesale Inventories Declined in December

Washington, DC, Feb. 9, 2010--The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories in December registered an unexpected decrease.

However, the department's report also showed a continued increase in wholesale sales during the month.

Wholesale inventories fell by 0.8 percent in December following an upwardly revised 1.6 percent increase in November. Economists had been expecting inventories to increase by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.5 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

At the same time, the Commerce Department also said that wholesale sales increased by 0.8 percent in December after surging up by 3.6 percent in the previous month. The increase reflected a 3.0 percent jump in sales of durable goods.