U.S. wholesale trade declines

WASHINGTON —  The U.S. Census Bureau announced that January 2014 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $432.6 billion, down 1.9% from the revised December level, but were up 3.9% from the January 2013 level. The December preliminary estimate was revised downward $1.4 billion or 0.3%.