Business Inventories, Sales Increase

Business inventories rose 0.4% in March as sales surged, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Sales jumped 2.3%, the biggest since November.

The increase in the value of stockpiles, which followed a 0.5% gain in February, matched economists’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported.

Retailers’ inventories rose 0.4%, while factory stockpiles, which account for about 40% of the total, rose 0.3%.

When sales are growing, it usually means trucking is seeing additional demand to deliver goods and restock shelves.