Business Inventories Gain 0.2% in January

March 13, 2007 10:30 AM, EDT

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U.S. business inventories rose 0.2% in January, but sales declined by the most in four months, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.The January uptick followed no change in December. Sales declined 0.7%.The inventories reading was slightly higher than economists’ forecasts of a 0.2% gain, Bloomberg reported. Retail inventories, which account for a little over a third of all business stockpiles, rose 0.2% after a revised 0.3% rise in December. When inventories and sales are growing, it usually means trucking is seeing additional demand to deliver goods and restock shelves.