Trade inventories rose in November WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Manufacturing and trade business inventories rose 0.3 percent in November, short of the consensus forecast, the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent rise. Inventories rose to $1.55 trillion, an 8.5 percent increase from a year earlier. Trade sales and manufacturers' shipments also rose 0.3 reaching $1.22 trillion. From November 2010, sales and shipments jumped 9.6 percent. The inventory-sales ratio for manufacturing and trade businesses was 1.27 at the end of November, down from 1.28 in November 2010. The ratio indicates how long it would take to sell all inventory at current prices and attempts to indicate whether inventories are rising due to an anticipation of sales or, conversely, a decline in sales that is causing an inventory backlog.