By Robb M. Stewart
OTTAWA--Canadian wholesale trade was flat in February, as increased sales of machinery, motor vehicles and other goods was offset by a fall in sales of food, clothing and footwear and home furnishings.
Wholesale sales was essentially unchanged from the month before at a seasonally adjusted 82.18 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of $59.65 billion, Statistics Canada said Monday. The figure much weaker than the data agency's advance estimate for a 0.8% advance, and follows a downwardly revised 0.2% drop in sales in January.
In price-adjusted terms, wholesale trade picked up 0.2% in February, an indication of an increase in the volume of sales.
Compared with a year earlier, nominal wholesale sales were down 1.1%, while transactions on a volume basis were 0.3% lower, the data agency said.
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 higher sales in February, led by machinery, equipment and supplies, which saw a second straight monthly increase after four months of declines.
Sales of motor vehicles, parts and accessories picked up after two monthly declines, though sales for the segment remain 3.2% below the peak seen last November as manufacturing and exports were held back by retooling at some plants.
Countering sales strength was a second consecutive monthly fall in sales of food and tobacco, as well as the first drop in sales following four months of growth for personal and household goods.
The value of wholesale inventories declined 1.0% for the month to C$126.91 billion, led by lower stocks of food, beverages and tobacco, as well as lower inventories of machinery, equipment and supplies.
Including sales by petroleum, oilseed and grain merchants--the headline measure Statistics Canada is transitioning to--wholesale sales for February were 2.3% higher at C$120.01 billion. The value of inventories on the same basis was down 0.6% at C$140.57 billion.
After stalling in the second half of last year, Canada's economy has picked up even as labor market conditions have continued to ease and inflation has steadily cooled. The Bank of Canada, which last week again held its policy interest rate steady at a more than two-decade high, has projected growth in gross domestic product of roughly 2% on average in the first half of the year.
February manufacturing sales increased 0.7% on the month before, thanks to increased sales of petroleum and coal. On a volume basis, manufacturing sales edged up 0.1%.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-15-24 0853ET
