Wholesale Inventories Rise 0.8% in July

.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.8% in July, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The increase matched June’s gain, Bloomberg reported.

Economists expected inventories to rise 0.6%, Bloomberg said.

The inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures the amount of time wholesale goods went unsold, rose to 1.15 months from 1.14 months in June.

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