Canadian Wholesales Unexpectedly Decline on Weak Machinery Sales

(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s wholesalers posted a surprise decline in August as machinery and equipment sales pulled back.

Canadian wholesales fell 1.2% in August, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday from Ottawa. That missed the 0.3% gain that economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting.

Decreases were widespread, with five of seven subsectors declining. Stripping out price effects, wholesale volumes fell 1.3% from July.

Machinery and equipment fell for the second month in a row, leading declines and falling 2.6% in August. Construction, forestry, mining, and industrial machinery and equipment were the main downside contributors. A continued slowdown in these sectors may be worrying signal when it comes to the investment outlook in Canada.

Wholesale inventories also fell for the first time in a year, down 0.3% in August. Still, the inventory-to-sales ratio ticked up to 1.45, remaining at one of the highest levels since the early 1990s -- a possible risk to future growth prospects.

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