-CIBC World Markets
Canadian wholesale sales declined for a second consecutive month in March, led by lower motor vehicle and food sales. According to Statistics Canada, the value of Canadian wholesale trade dropped by 1.0% in March to a seasonally adjusted 54.56 billion Canadian dollars, compared to economists' expectations for a 0.5% fall. Lower sales were recorded in five of seven subsectors, making up for 65% of total wholesale trade. In volume terms, sales fell by 0.4%. The motor vehicles and parts subsector slipped by 2.5% to C$10.28 billion, its lowest level in four months as vehicle sales fell. Moreover, Statistics Canada revised February's month-on-month decline to 2.3% from an initial 2.2%. While wholesale data often get less attention than other economic measures, wholesalers make up the biggest portion of the Canada's services sector, which in turn accounts for around two-thirds of overall economic output.
The Canadian GDP outlook remains fairly bleak for March, especially in light of several discouraging macro-data published earlier. Statistics Canada showed that manufacturing sales tumbled 0.9% to C$50 billion amid weakness in the transportation equipment and primary metals industries. The March GDP figure, which is due at the end of May, will be accompanied by the quarterly economic growth statistics. Thus far, February's GDP proved to be weak, contracting 0.1% after a jump of 0.6% in January.
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