March 24, 2005

Sales slip in January after three months of increases

OTTAWA

A poor showing in the automotive sector pushed wholesale sales down 0.2 per cent in January after three months of overall increases, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

Sales outside the auto industry climbed a hefty 1.1 per cent, but a drop of 7.1 per cent in the motor vehicles group pushed the whole index down.

Of the 15 trade groups which represent 52 per cent of total sales, 10 posted increases in January.

Wholesalers of computers and electronic products had increases of 6.4 per cent. Lumber and millwork sales rose 11.7 per cent and household and personal products were up 4.7 per cent.

Automotive and the “other products’’ categories, which had robust growth in December, lagged in January.

The statistics agency said Canadian new car sales slumped in January despite a number of sales incentives by automakers.

Conversely, wholesalers of motor vehicle parts and accessories continued to register gains with a 2.4-per-cent increase in January, likely because of a rise in used cars sales in Canada, the agency said.

“The supply of used cars has increased in Canada owing to the rise in the Canadian dollar, which has made these vehicles more costly on the U.S. market.’’

Among the provinces, the largest increases were noted in New Brunswick (up 3.2 per cent) and Nova Scotia (up 1.2 per cent). Newfoundland and Labrador (down 5.9 per cent) and British Columbia (down 2.2 per cent) had the largest declines.

The value of wholesalers’ inventories grew for the fifth consecutive month, rising 1.2 per cent to $47.4 billion in January.

This increase was mainly attributable to the motor vehicle parts and accessories group, as well as the household and personal products group.

The Canadian Press

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