Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% in November, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Sales rose 2.3%, the biggest rise in sales since March 2011, Commerce said.
The gain in inventories followed a 0.3% gain in October that was smaller than initially reported. Durable goods stockpiles rose 0.4%.
Economists had called for a 0.2% gain in wholesale inventories, Bloomberg News reported.
Wholesale inventories account for about one-fourth of total business stockpiles, while retailers and factories account for the rest.