Wholesale Inventories Unexpectedly Drop in December

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Wholesale inventories fell 0.5% in December, the most since May 2003, as sales surged, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.The decline followed a revised 1.1% rise in November that was less than originally reported. Sales at wholesalers rose 1.8%, the most in seven months. Economists had forecast inventories to rise 0.5%, Bloomberg reported.The inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures how long inventories would last at the current sales pace, fell to 1.17 months from 1.19 months.Stockpiles of durable goods, including computers and imported automobiles, fell 0.4%, while sales of those goods rose 1.1%.Wholesale inventories account for about a fourth of total business stockpiles. Retailers and factories account for the rest.