(RTTNews) - Canadian wholesale salesrose more than expected in March, resuming a recent uptrend on the strength of construction activity.
Wholesale sales increased for the fourth time in five months, up 1.4% to C$44.4 billion in March, according to data released by Statistics Canada Wednesday morning.
Economists were expecting a more modest increase of 1%, following the previous months decline of 1.3%.
On a yearly basis, wholesale sales were up 10.3% from a revised growth of 8.3% in the previous monthly.
The major contributors to the monthly increase were the machinery, equipment and supplies, and the building materials and supplies subsectors.
The agency noted a 2.2% increase in the volume of sales reflects the appreciation of the Canadian dollar with respect to the US currency during the month.
The largest increase came in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector, which rose 4.9% to $8.9 billion in March.
Wholesalers in all provinces reported higher sales in March, with Ontario and Alberta posting the largest increases in dollar terms.
Wholesale inventories edged down 0.2% following a 0.3% increase in February.
