-- Statistics Canada provided Friday an advance estimate of sales in the wholesale trade sector for March and it indicated that wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) rose 1.3%.
It said the increase partly reflects higher sales in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector.
StatsCan noted this estimate was calculated based on a weighted response rate of 66.0%. The average final response rate to the survey over the 12 preceding months was 82.2%. As Statistics Canada continues to collect data for the March reference month, this advance indicator is subject to a higher revision rate than the regular monthly release.