Autos contribute to June wholesale sales drop

Statistics Canada says wholesale sales fell 0.8% in June to $63.1 billion.

The drop came as the motor vehicle and parts subsectors saw sales drop 1.9% to $10.9 billion.

The miscellaneous subsector fell 2.2% to $8.2 billion on lower sales in the agricultural supplies industry.

Overall, Statistics Canada says sales were down in five of the seven subsectors tracked, accounting for 71% of total wholesale sales.

Wholesale sales in volume terms fell 1.1%.

Royce Mendes, senior economist at CIBC World Markets, called the June numbers a “wholesale write-off.”

In a research note, Mendes wrote that the drop came against a consensus forecast for a 0.7% gain. May’s numbers were also revised down to 0.9% to 1.2%, he said.

“Overall, while this won’t materially change tracking forecasts for a roughly 3% annualized gain in Q2, it is a sign that momentum might be tailing off to end the quarter,” Mendes wrote.

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Staff, with files from The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is a national news agency headquartered in Toronto and founded in 1917.