OTTAWA, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Canada's wholesale sales increased 1 percent in September to 71.3 billion Canadian dollars, Statistics Canada said Monday.
It was the fifth increase in the past seven months.
Sales of agricultural supplies (part of the miscellaneous subsector) and machinery, equipment and supplies generated the gain in September.
Lower sales in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector and the building material and supplies subsector partially offset the increase.
Overall sales rose in four of seven subsectors, representing nearly 70 percent of the sector.
Despite increased sales in both August and September, wholesale sales in the third quarter of 2021 decreased 1.6 percent to 212 billion Canadian dollars. This was the first quarterly decline since the second quarter of 2020.
Statistics Canada attributed the decrease to a drop in sales of lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies which was generated by a steep decrease in the prices for softwood lumber.
Excluding the decrease in that industry, wholesale sales rose 1 percent.
The strongest increase in the third quarter came from the miscellaneous subsector which jumped 5.7 percent.
All of the industries in the subsector posted gains in the third quarter, led by agricultural supplies and recyclable materials.
An increase of 5.9 percent in sales in the miscellaneous goods subsector in September was due to a jump of 20.9 percent in sales in the agricultural products industry.
The growth in the agricultural products industry pushed monthly sales to over 3 billion Canadian dollars for the first time on record.
Meanwhile, sales also rose in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector, up 2.7 percent in September to 14.9 billion Canadian dollars. Sales in the subsector were up in two of the past three months.
The agricultural sector also played a role in the increase as sales in the farm, lawn and garden machinery industry rose 8.2 percent to 1.9 billion Canadian dollars.
Wholesalers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts and accessories reported lower sales for the second consecutive month, down 2 percent in September to 10.1 billion Canadian dollars, the lowest since June 2020.
The ongoing problems with worldwide supply chains continued to have an impact on the subsector, with many assembly plants in North America in particular shut down for most or all of September. As such, declines in the subsector were widespread.
Building material and supplies wholesalers reported a decrease of 1.4 percent in sales in September to 11.2 billion Canadian dollars.
September marked the third time in the past four months that the subsector recorded lower sales of building materials. Sales in the lumber, millwork, hardware and other building supplies industry have fallen by 30.4 percent in the past four months, after reaching an all-time high of 8.1 billion Canadian dollars in May 2021. Enditem