Wholesale Inventories Rise in March

Washington, DC, May 10, 2013 — Wholesale inventories rose 0.4% in March from February, according to the Commerce Department.

But sales in March dropped 1.6%, biggest setback since March 2009, when the country was in recession. Sales had risen 1.5% in February.

The March increase put inventories at $503.1 billion, up 4.7% from a year ago and 30.7% above the recession low.