Wholesale Inventories Up 0.5% in September; Sales Rise 0.1%

U.S. wholesale inventories rose for the fourth straight month in September, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Stockpiles of goods rose 0.5% in the ninth month of the year, led higher by increases in reserves of automobiles and petroleum products.

The total value of U.S. wholesale inventories was $285.7 billion in September.

Sales rose slightly 0.1%, the Commerce Department said, to $233.4 billion during the month.

Even the modest increase in sales, coupled with historically low inventory levels, is prompting many companies to order new goods – a sign that demand for trucking services could be increase.

The sales increase also helped hold the inventory-to-sales ratio – the equation that represents how long goods sit unsold on store shelves – at a record low of 1.22 months in September, even with August’s figure.

Wholesalers account for nearly 25% of all business inventories.