Canadian wholesale sales, excluding oil, oil products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 1.9% month over month to $89.0 billion in March, said the country's statistical agency on Thursday.
March's rise was slightly better than the 1.3% month-over-month consensus figure provided by Scotiabank.
Sales increased in five of the seven subsectors, representing 79.6% of total wholesale sales, noted Statistics Canada in a statement. The largest increase came from the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector.
Wholesale sales were 3.3% higher in March than in the same month one year earlier.
In volume terms, wholesale sales excluding oil, oil products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain increased 1.7% month over month in March.
Wholesale inventories, excluding oil, oil products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, increased by 0.3% month over month to $137.2 billion in March, pointed out StatsCan.
Inventories rose in three of the seven subsectors in March, with the largest increases occurring in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector (2.0% to $41.4 billion) and the food, beverage and tobacco subsector (0.5% to $15.6 billion).
The inventory-to-sales ratio decreased from 1.57 in February to 1.54 in March. This ratio measures the number of months required to exhaust inventories if sales remain at their current levels.