OTTAWA, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Wholesale trade sales were flat in November, holding at $50.4 billion after four consecutive months of gains, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.
StatsCan said sales were lower in five sub-sectors, but the declines were offset by a 2.5 percent rise in wholesale sales of motor vehicles and parts. The food, beverage and tobacco sub-sector also posted gains in November.
Machinery, equipment and supplies posted the sharpest decline, off 0.8 percent to $11 billion.
Within that sub-sector, the category of construction, forestry, mining and industrial machinery posted a sales drop of 8 percent, falling to its lowest level in four months, StatsCan said.
Sales of building materials and supplies dropped 1.2 percent. Farm product sales on the wholesale level dropped 8.7 percent.
Sales also fell in personal and household goods with a decline of 0.6 percent. Declines in that sub-sector were paced by a 9.7 percent decline in household appliance sales.
That decline offset most of a gain posted in October, StatsCan noted.
