U.S. Wholesale Inventories Up 0.3 Pct in May

WASHINGTON, July 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. inventories at the wholesale level post a slight month-on-month increase in May, but wholesale sales dropped, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday.

Inventories at the wholesale level added 0.3 percent in May from April to 484.1 billion U.S. dollars, up 6.4 percent from a year ago. This followed a 0.5 percent increase in April.

Sales at the wholesale level fell 0.8 percent in May from April to 409.6 billion dollars, and were up 5.7 percent from a year earlier.

Sales decline could be a sign of trouble for the tepid economic recovery, as personal consumption accounted for about 70 percent of the total economic activity in the world's largest economy.