According to Statistics Canada, wholesale sales declined for a second consecutive month in March, down 1.0 percent to $54.6 billion. Lower sales were recorded in five of seven subsectors, led by the motor vehicle and parts subsector and the miscellaneous subsector. In volume terms, wholesale sales declined 0.4 percent.
The motor vehicle and parts subsector recorded a second consecutive decline in March, down 2.5 percent to $10.3 billion, its lowest level in four months. The motor vehicle industry contributed the most to the decline, with sales decreasing 3.3 percent to $7.8 billion. Lower imports and exports of motor vehicles and parts were also recorded in March.
Higher sales were recorded in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector, up 0.5 percent to $11.0 billion. Gains in the computer and communications equipment and supplies industry (+1.5 percent) and the farm, lawn and garden machinery and equipment industry (+2.4 percent) led the increase. Both industries recorded a decline in February.
Wholesale inventories recorded a third consecutive decrease in March, edging down 0.1 percent to $72.6 billion, their lowest level in six months. Declines in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector, which represented 29 percent of total wholesale inventories, accounted for most of the decrease.
Inventories in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector (-0.9 percent) declined for the fourth time in five months, bringing the subsector to its lowest level in 11 months. The building material and supplies subsector rose 0.6 percent, its second increase in nine months, while the personal and household goods subsector was up 0.5 percent, its third increase in four months.