Wholesale Inventories Jump in November

Wholesale inventories rose 1.5% in November, the biggest gain in five years, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The gain, which was the most since October 2004, followed a revised 0.6% increase in October that had originally been reported as a 0.3% rise, Commerce said.

Wholesale sales rose 3.3%, the biggest gain since January 2008.

Economists had forecast inventories to fall 0.3%, Bloomberg reported.

Wholesale inventories account for about a fourth of total business stockpiles, while retailers and factories account for the rest.