The business cycle proceeds.
* * * * * J B K * * * * *
San Francisco
Inventories at U.S. wholesalers rose in February, a sign companies are ramping up orders as sales climbed to the highest level in more than a year.
The 0.6 percent gain in the value of stockpiles was larger than anticipated and followed a revised 0.1 percent increase the prior month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Sales advanced 0.8 percent, the 11th consecutive increase.
A record reduction in stockpiles last year sets the stage for companies to boost investment and production in coming months as demand picks up. Efforts to stabilize inventories in the last three months of 2009 accounted for two-thirds of that quarter's 5.6 percent pace of economic growth.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=ayKSmTKTOvrQ
