Canada's wholesale plateaus in June

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OTTAWA, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A whopping 20.5 percent dive in Canadian wholesale agricultural products kept the country's total sales flat in June at $49.9 billion, Statistics Canada said.

That was a 0.1 percent wholesale decline from May across all seven sectors and ended four consecutive monthly increases.

Within the miscellaneous sector, the agricultural supplies industry's sales plummet dragged down the national total, the report said. Excluding the miscellaneous sector, wholesale sales rose 0.9 percent, the agency said.

The largest wholesale gainer was the motor vehicle and parts sector, which was up 2.2 percent, attributable to higher sales in the motor vehicle industry.

"The food, beverage and tobacco sector continued the upward trend that began at the end of 2009," StatsCan said. "Sales were up 0.3 percent in June, following a 1.3 percent advance in May."