The Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing wholesale inventories in the U.S. increased by less than expected in the month of May.
The report showed wholesale inventories jumped by 1.8 percent in May after surging by an upwardly revised 2.3 percent in April.
Economists had expected wholesale inventories to shoot up by 2.0 percent compared to the 2.2 percent spike originally reported for the previous month.
The Commerce Department said inventories of both durable and non-durable goods advanced by 1.8 percent during the month.
The report also showed wholesale sales rose by 0.5 percent in May after climbing by 0.8 percent in April.
A 1.6 percent jump in sale of non-durable goods was partly offset by a 0.7 percent drop in sales of durable goods.
With inventories increasing by much more than sales, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers inched up to 1.26 in May from 1.25 in April.
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