According to Statistics Canada, wholesale sales were unchanged at $57.0 billion in January as gains in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector were offset by lower sales in the motor vehicle and parts subsector.
In volume terms, wholesale sales decreased 0.2 percent in January. Higher sales were recorded in four subsectors in January. In dollar terms, the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector led the gains.
The machinery, equipment and supplies subsector increased 2.6 percent to $11.5 billion. The construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies industry led the gain, increasing 6.4 percent to its highest level since May 2015. A rise of 2.4 percent in the other machinery, equipment and supplies industry also contributed to the increase.
Sales in the motor vehicle and parts subsector decreased 2.8 percent to $11.0 billion, the first decline in three months. The motor vehicle industry accounted for the drop, declining 4.9 percent to $8.3 billion. Despite the decrease, sales in the industry were 27.4 percent higher than in January 2015.
Wholesale inventories rose 0.3 percent in January to $72.9 billion, the first advance in three months. Increases were recorded in three of seven subsectors, accounting for 51 percent of total wholesale inventories.
The largest gain in dollar terms was in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector (+1.2 percent), mostly offsetting the decline in the previous month.
The motor vehicle and parts (-1.4 percent) and building material and supplies (-0.9 percent) subsectors recorded their second decline in three months.
The inventory-to-sales ratio increased from 1.27 in December to 1.28 in January. This ratio is a measure of the time in months required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.