U.S. business inventories up, sales down WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- U.S. business inventories rose while sales fell in May, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Sales dropped 0.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted $1.245 trillion. They were up 5.1 percent from May 2011. Manufacturers' and trade inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $1,578.4 billion, up 0.3 percent from April 2012 and up 5.2 percent from May 2011. The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of May was 1.27, up from the ratio of 1.26 in April, but steady compared to May 2011.