Washington, DC, August 9--Wholesalers inventories were up 0.7 percent in June, while wholesale sales rose 0.6 percent, according to the Commerce Department.
Economists had forecase an increase of 0.4 percent in inventories.
Stocks of durable goods rose 0.9 percent in June. Automotive inventories rose 3.1 percent in June, marking their biggest increase since December 2003. Wholesale auto sales also were strong, gaining 1.2 percent in June amid heavy retail discounting by automakers.
Nondurable inventories rose 0.3 percent, with sales up 0.8 percent.
The inventories-to-sales ratio, a measure of how long it would take to deplete stocks at the current sales pace, was flat in June at 1.19 months' worth.
May's wholesale inventories measure was revised up a touch to a 0.3 percent gain, from a first-reported 0.1 percent advance. May wholesale sales, originally reported as unchanged, were revised to a 0.1 percent rise.
