Wholesale Inventories Up, Sales Fall in February

Washington, DC, April 8, 2011 — The Commerce Department said wholesale sales fell 0.8 % in February from January, the first setback since June 2009.

Inventories rose 1% and have been rising for more than a year. The string of inventory gains pushed them to $438 billion, up 13.4% from the low in September 2009.