Canada’s wholesale trade, excluding petroleum products, declined 0.1% to $85.6 billion in March.
Statistics Canada said that the overall decrease in wholesale sales during March was led by drops in the miscellaneous and machinery equipment subsectors.
In all, sales fell in four of seven subsectors tracked by the federal agency.
Statistics Canada said that sales in the miscellaneous subsector declined 6.1% to $11.4 billion as sales in the agricultural supplies group decreased 15.5% to $4.1 billion.
The machinery, equipment and supplies subsector dipped 2% to $18 billion in March as the computer and communications equipment group dropped 9.2% to $4.9 billion.
Those declines were partially offset by the farm products subsector that rose 19.1% to $4.7 billion in the month.
Sales increased in most provinces during March, led by higher sales in Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.
For this year’s first quarter, Canada’s wholesale trade increased 0.5% to $249.4 billion.
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