U.S. wholesale inventories unexpectedly rose in January as sales tumbled, suggesting that efforts by businesses to reduce an inventory overhang could persist well into 2016 and restrain economic growth. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday wholesale inventories increased 0.3 percent in January. December inventories were revised up to show them unchanged instead of the previously reported 0.1 percent dip. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast inventories falling 0.2 percent in January. Inventories are a key component of gross domestic product changes. The component of wholesale inventories that goes into the ... (full story)