A slump in the auto sector and weak machinery and electronic equipment sales knocked Canada's wholesale trade down by a steeper-than-expected 1.6 percent in September from August, the biggest monthly drop this year, Statistics Canada said on Monday.
The setback was worse than the 0.4-percent decline analysts had expected. Still, overall third-quarter wholesale trade grew by a healthy 1.6 percent compared with 0.4 percent in the second quarter, and the long-term trend for the industry remains positive, Statscan said.
Wholesale inventories rose a marginal 0.1 percent in September after three months of strong gains but due to the drop in sales, the inventory-to-shipment ratio jumped to a three-year high of 1.27.