Wholesalers slashed inventories more than expected in April as businesses struggled to get stockpiles in line with falling sales. The Commerce Department says wholesale inventories fell 1.4% in April, more than the 1.1% decline that economists expected. It marked the eighth straight month that inventories dropped. Sales at the wholesale level fell 0.4% in April following a 2.4% drop in March. Sales by wholesalers have fallen in nine of the past 10 months. The ratio of inventories to sales stood at 1.31, meaning it would take 1.31 months to exhaust total stockpiles at the April sales pace. That ratio had stood at 1.32 in March and was 1.12 in April 2008.
April wholesale inventories fall 1.4%
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