OTTAWA, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Wholesale trade sales rose 1.5 percent in Canada in July, the data office Statistics Canada reported Thursday.
Wholesale business rose $49.5 billion in the month with higher sales reported by four out of seven subsectors, which account for 70 percent of all wholesale sales, the data agency said.
StatsCan said machinery, equipment and supplies rose 3.2 percent to $10.6 billion, leading all subsectors and more than offsetting a decline posted in June.
Within that category, wholesale sales of lawn and garden machinery set the pace, advancing 12 percent over July.
Miscellaneous wholesale trade declined 1.2 percent, largely due to an 11.5 percent decrease in sales of agricultural supplies.
Wholesale sales rose in most provinces, but fell slightly in New Brunswick, slightly over 3 percent in Newfoundland and Labrador and more than 6 percent in Saskatchewan, StatsCan said.
