British Columbia saw a drop in wholesale sales in June after three consecutive monthly gains, Statistics Canada announced August 20.
The province’s total wholesale trade fell 0.7% to $5.2 billion. This was driven in part by a drop in sales of motor vehicles and parts.
Across Canada, wholesale trade grew by 0.6% to $53 billion.
“The number, which continues the string of largely better-than-expected stats for the month, was 0.2% above the consensus, although below the previous month’s solid increase, which was revised up a tad to 2.3%,” said CIBC World Markets senior economist Peter Buchanan, explaining that this increase provided a “solid contribution to GDP growth for the month.”
The largest contributor, nationwide, in terms of dollar value was in the “miscellaneous” subsector, which grew by 3.1% or $208 million to $6.9 billion. This subsector included higher sales in agricultural supplies (up 4.9%).
The province with the biggest influence on the country-wide increase was Alberta, which saw its highest wholesale trade value ever recorded. Sales in that province were up 2.0% to $7.1 billion.
Despite the drop in June, B.C.’s wholesale sales were up year-over-year by 12%, which was higher than the national average of 8.7%. Prince Edward Island was the province that saw the biggest monthly increase, with growth of 16.1% in the 12 months to June.
