U.S. business inventories rose by 0.7 percent in March, the largest gain in 15 months, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The March gain followed a smaller increase of 0.1 percent in the previous month. While compared with the same month of last year, inventories held by businesses on shelves and backlogs were up 7.7 percent in March.

Data showed that the rise in March was led by a gain of one percent in stockpiles held by retailers.

Total business sales for retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers climbed up by 0.7 percent in March after having registered a fall of 0.6 percent in the previous month.

The total business inventories-to-sales ratio, a measure of how long it would take to deplete stocks at the current sales pace, was 1.26 at the end of March. The ratio in March last year was 1.31, according to the report.

Rising inventories are seen by economists either as a sign of confidence in future demand or as a result of an unexpected decline in sales. Analysts look at the inventories-to-sales ratio to determine how to interpret the data.

Source: Xinhua