U.S. wholesale inventories posted a minor month-on-month gain in November, 2011 while sales showed a solid rise, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Tuesday.

Inventories at the wholesale level edged up 0.1 percent in November from October to 468.9 billion U.S. dollars, or 10.5 percent up from a year ago.

Sales at the wholesale level gained 0.6 percent in November from October to 407.9 billion dollars, or 11.3 percent up from a year earlier.

The November inventories/sales ratio stood at 1.15, compared with 1.16 in November 2010.

Economists noted that U.S. wholesale inventories and sales growth would be fresh evidence of the economy's ongoing recovery, as personal consumption accounted for about 70 percent of the total economic activity in the world's largest economy.