March business inventories up 0.1 percent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. business inventories rose 0.1 percent in March, lower than expected, while sales were strong during the month, a government report released on Tuesday showed.

Inventories stood at a seasonally adjusted $1.47 trillion in March, the Commerce Department said. Wall Street analysts were expecting a 0.4 percent gain after a 0.5 percent increase in February, first reported as a 0.6 percent increase.

March business sales rose 1.0 percent after falling 1.0 percent in February, first reported as 1.1 percent decline.

The strength in March sales brought the stock-to-sales ratio - or how long it would take to empty inventories at the current pace -- to 1.27 months' worth , down from 1.28 in February.