U.S. wholesale inventories plunged a record 1.5 percent in February, more than double Wall Street's forecasts, while sales gained 0.6 percent, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected inventories to fall 0.7 percent, after a 0.9 percent drop the previous month. Stocks at wholesalers have now dropped for six straight months. The Commerce Department's current methods for recording inventory data began in 1992. February was the first increase in sales since June 2008, when they rose 2.3 percent. The inventories-to-sales ratio, or the pace it would take to deplete current stocks, was 1.31 months' worth in February, faster than January's 1.34 months'. The January ratio was the largest since June 2001.

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