U.S. wholesale businesses increased their stockpiles in November but at less than half the pace of October when they had jumped by the largest amount in two years.

Wholesalers boosted stockpiles 0.5 percent in November compared with October when inventories had increased 1.3 percent, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The October gain had been the biggest one-month increase since a 1.5 percent rise in October 2011.