Wholesale Inventories, Sales Gain for November

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Wholesale inventories jumped 1.3% in November as sales rebounded from two consecutive declines, rising 1%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.The inventory followed a revised 0.4% gain in October, Commerce said. The sales gain, which followed a 0.4% decline, was the highest since January 2006.Economists expected inventories to rise 0.5%, Bloomberg reported.The inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures how long inventories would last at the current sales pace, rose to 1.2 months, a fourth straight increase.Stockpiles of durable goods, including computers and imported automobiles, rose 0.5%, while sales of those goods rose 1.2%, the most since May.Wholesale inventories account for about a fourth of total business stockpiles. Retailers and factories account for the rest.