OTTAWA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Canadian wholesale trade unexpectedly rose in September, increasing 1.5 percent thanks to a rebound in auto sales, Statistics Canada said on Thursday, adding to upbeat data on third-quarter economic growth.
Economists expected a 0.3 percent decline, according to a median forecast in a poll by Reuters.
In volume terms, sales rose 1 percent.
Sales of automotive products jumped 6 percent in September from August, offsetting almost half the losses in August. But sales in the sector, now seen to be in crisis as U.S. consumer demand dries up, were down 4.7 percent compared with a year earlier.
Machinery and electronic equipment sales were the second-fastest growing category in September, rising 1.4 percent.
Wholesale inventories continued to expand for the seventh straight month, climbing 0.7 percent with the largest increase in metal products. However, the strong sales meant the inventory-to-sales ratio, a measure of the number of months it would take to exhaust stock at current sales levels, fell to 1.24 in September from 1.25 in August.
Economists expect third-quarter growth to beat the Bank of Canada's 0.8 percent estimate. A string of data have pointed to strong growth in the period, including factory sales, jobs growth and housing.
