Wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) rose 0.6% to $89.3 billion in April, Statistics Canada said Monday.
According to a Scotiabank preview, Canadian wholesale sales were expected to post a "small" rise. BMO had said wholesale trade should grow 0.5% this time, a little faster than the 0.1% advance figure but slower than March's 1.9% move.
On the April data, StatsCan said sales increased in five of the seven subsectors, representing about 60% of total wholesale sales. The largest increases came from the building material and supplies subsector (+4.3% to $12.7 billion) and the mineral, ore and precious metal industry group (+15.7% to $1.0 billion), it added.
Wholesale sales were 6.3% higher in April compared with the same month one year earlier, it noted.
In volume terms, wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) decreased 0.3% in April.
Among highlights, the building material and supplies subsector recorded the largest increase; higher provincial wholesale sales were led by Ontario and British Columbia; and wholesale inventories rose, driven by motor vehicles and building materials.