US wholesale inventories rise 0.8% in January

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Wholesale inventories in the US rose 0.8% to $799.9 billion in January, according to Commerce Department figures released Tuesday.

The figure, which measures the change in the total value of goods held in inventory by wholesalers, marked its 18th consecutive monthly increase.

While the market expectation was an increase of 0.8%, the December figure was revised to $793.4 billion for a monthly gain of 2.6%.

Wholesale trade sales, also known as total sales of merchant wholesalers, also rose 4% to $663.9 billion in January.

While the estimate was for a gain of 1.2%, the December level was revised to a 0.8% increase.