Wholesale inventories fell 0.1% in March, led by a decline in crude oil supplies, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
The decline, the first since December, followed a revised 0.9% gain in February that was smaller than originally reported.
Wholesale sales rose 1.6%.
The inventory reading was in contrast to the 0.5% increase forecast by economists, Bloomberg reported. Ìý Wholesale inventories account for about a fourth of total business stockpiles, while retailers and factories account for the rest.
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