Wholesale Inventories Rise 1.1% in August

.S. wholesale inventories rose 1.1% in August, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The increase was the largest since April and followed a revised 0.9% gain in July, Bloomberg reported.

Economists expected inventories to rise 0.7%, Bloomberg said.

The inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures the amount of time wholesale goods went unsold, held at 1.15 months in August.

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