By Robb M. Stewart
OTTAWA–Canadian wholesale trade recovered in November thanks in large part to increased sales of motor vehicles and building materials and supplies.
Wholesale sales rose 0.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the month before to 82.49 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of $61.51 billion, Statistics Canada said Monday.
The figure was slightly ahead of the data agency’s advance estimate for a 0.8% rise in sales, following a 0.3% slide in wholesale transactions recorded for October and a 0.7% fall in September.
In volume, or price-adjusted terms, wholesale sales increased 0.6% in November after declining in the previous two months.
On a one-year basis, nominal wholesale sales dipped 0.2%.
Wholesalers–the largest component of Canada’s services sector–connect farmers or manufacturers that produce goods with companies and public institutions that use them. They also import goods from other countries and redistribute them within Canada.
Four of the seven wholesale sectors tracked by Statistics Canada posted increased sales in November.
Vehicle and parts sales grew 3.3% for the month, after falling for the first time in three months in October. Sales of building materials and supplies were up for a second consecutive month, rising 1.2%, while personal and household goods sales were up 1.5% thanks largely to gains in toiletries, cosmetics and sundries, as well as home furnishings.
The value of wholesale inventories fell 1.5% for the month to C$127.93 billion, which the agency said was led by the machinery, equipment and supplies segment and by the building material and supplies sector.
Including sales by petroleum, oilseed and grain merchants–the headline measure Statistics Canada is transitioning to–wholesale sales for November were 2.9% lower at C$123.29 billion. Inventories on the same basis were down 1.6% at C$142.18 billion.
Manufacturing sales also recovered in November, rising 1.2% from the month before with increases in chemicals, primary metals and machinery. Statistics Canada is scheduled to release retail sales data for November on Friday.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at [email protected]
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