A Statistics Canada building and sign are pictured in Ottawa on July 3, 2019. Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseeds and grain, fell 0.5 per cent to $81.7 billion in October. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
December 15, 2023 - 7:24 AM
OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseeds and grain, fell 0.5 per cent to $81.7 billion in October.
The agency says sales fell in five of the seven subsectors it tracks, led by the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector, which fell 1.6 per cent in October to $17.7 billion.
It says the drop in the subsector was led by lower sales of the construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery, equipment and supplies industry group which fell 3.6 per cent to $6.0 billion, while the computer and communications equipment and supplies industry group fell 2.9 per cent to $5.0 billion.
The building material and supplies subsector rose 1.1 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseeds and grain, fell 0.7 per cent in October.
Statistics Canada began including the oilseed and grain industry group as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade earlier this year, but is excluding the data from its monthly analysis until historical data are available for proper monthly and annual analysis.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2023.
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