Wholesale Inventories Rise 0.8%

Wholesale inventories rose 0.8% in April as auto stockpiles took their biggest drop in more than a year, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Sales rose 0.3% after climbing 3% in March, Commerce said.

The inventories gain was in line with economists’ forecasts of a 1% gain, Bloomberg reported.

Factory inventories, which make up about two-fifths of the total, rose 1.3% following a 1.1% increase in March.

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