Wholesale inventories unexpectedly showed a modest decrease in the month of January, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, although the report also showed a notable increase in wholesale sales.

The report showed that wholesale inventories edged down by 0.2 percent in January following a revised 1.0 percent drop in December. The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected inventories to rise by 0.2 percent versus the 0.8 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.

Peter Boockvar, equity strategist for Miller Tabak, said, "Inventory restocking (which statistically lifts GDP) has still not handed the baton to stocking likely due to the still uncertain outlook with final demand."

"With this said, inventories are very lean and even the slightest pick up in end demand should lead to the eventual restocking," he added.

A 0.5 percent decrease in inventories of durable goods contributed to the unexpected drop in wholesale inventories, more than offsetting a 0.3 percent increase in inventories of non-durable goods. Inventories of machinery, equipment, and supplies showed a notable decrease.

At the same time, the Commerce Department said that wholesale sales surged up by 1.3 percent in January after increasing by 1.2 percent in December. With the increase, wholesale sales increased for the tenth straight month.

The continued increase in wholesale sales combined with the drop in wholesale inventories dragged the inventories/sales ratio down to a record low of 1.10 in January from 1.12 in December.