By Robb M. Stewart


OTTAWA--Canadian wholesale trade retreated in May with a pull back in sales of motor vehicles.

Wholesale sales fell 0.8% in May from the month before to a seasonally adjusted 82.23 billion Canadian dollars, the equivalent of US$60.29 billion, Statistics Canada said Monday. The figure was in line with the data agency's advance estimate for a drop of 0.9% after sales in April rebounded a downwardly revised 2.0%.

In price-adjusted terms, wholesale trade declined 0.8% in May, an indication the sales volumes weakened.

On a one-year basis, nominal wholesale sales were down 0.9%, while transactions on a volume basis were 0.7% lower, the data agency said.

Wholesalers--the largest component of Canada's services sector--connect farmers or manufacturers that produce goods with companies and public institutions that use them. They also import goods from other countries and redistribute them within Canada.

Five of the seven wholesale sectors tracked by Statistics Canada posted lower sales in the latest month, driven by a 3.8% drop in sales of motor vehicles, parts and accessories following a big increase in April. Sales of vehicles from Canadian manufacturers were down for the month, as were imports of passenger cars and light trucks.

Sales of machinery, equipment and supplies also slipped in May, the first decline in the last five months thanks to lower shipments of computer and communications equipment and farm, lawn and garden machinery.

With the decline in sales the value of wholesale inventories rose 0.9% for the month to C$127.76 billion. The rise in stock was led by machinery, equipment and supplies segment, as well as building materials and supplies.

Including sales by petroleum, oilseed and grain merchants--the headline measure Statistics Canada is transitioning to--wholesale sales were 1.4% lower than in April at C$121.06 billion. Inventories on the same basis fell 0.3% to C$140.52 billion in May.

After stalling in the second half of last year, Canada's economy resumed growing in the first quarter of the year as inflation continued to ease. The Bank of Canada, which last month cut a policy interest rate that had been at a more than two-decade high, has forecast gross domestic product growth will average 1.5% this year thanks to strong population growth and pick up to about 2% in 2025 and 2026.


Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-15-24 0925ET