Wholesale sales popped 9% from a year ago with all sectors up, says StatCan

Canadian wholesalers were busy in June as sales rose nine per cent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada, with all seven subsectors reporting higher sales.

The agency said Friday that June saw comparable wholesale sales (which exclude those of petroleum, petroleum products and other hydrocarbons, as well as oilseed and grain sectors) top $92.5 billion, up 2.8 per cent from May of this year, and the fourth increase in five months.

In volume terms, wholesale sales in June increased 1.9 per cent from the previous month.

Wholesale sales values were up the most in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector, rising 4.8 per cent month-over-month in June to $20.1 billion, which was also the first increase in the sector after falling for the previous two months. Statistics Canada says this was mainly from sales of farm, lawn and garden machinery and equipment, which increased 25.9 per cent.

Higher wholesale sales were also seen in agricultural supplies and recyclable material industry groups, with an increase of 8.3 per cent and 9.3 per cent, respectively. These were the biggest gains in the miscellaneous subsector, which the agency says increased a total of 4.7 per cent in June compared to May and reached $12.5 billion in sales.

Wholesale sales in the food, beverage and tobacco subsector increased 2.8 per cent in June, topping $16.4 billion, with food sales alone increasing 3.1 per cent and accounting for nearly all of the gain in the month. Statistics Canada adds that the wholesale food sales increase in June was linked to higher volumes, suggesting more product was sold and not just that the value of those products was higher.

The June report from Statistics Canada comes after the FIFA World Cup , which ran from June through July, drove up demand for tourism and entertainment, including at bars and restaurants across Canada.

June marks the final month of the second quarter of the year (April through June), and Statistics Canada says wholesale sales increased 4.2 per cent compared to the first quarter, topping $272.8 billion, excluding sales of petroleum, petroleum products and other hydrocarbons, as well as oilseed and grain products. By volume, second quarter wholesale sales increased by 2.8 per cent from the previous quarter.

The second quarter’s wholesale sales value also increased 7.9 per cent compared to a year earlier.