Figures released Monday morning showed Canadian wholesale sales rose in June for a third consecutive month and topped market expectations, proving to be one of the few bright lights in an otherwise dreary second quarter.
June wholesale trade rose 0.7% from May to a seasonally adjusted $56.42 billion, StatsCan said. Traders anticipated a 0.1% gain, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada. May’s data were revised slightly upward to an increase of 1.9% versus the earlier 1.8% estimate.
In volume terms, sales rose 0.6% month over month.
For the second quarter, Canadian wholesale trade advanced 0.6% on a non-annualized basis, the data agency said. Wholesalers emerged as among the most resilient performers in the Canadian economy from April to June, as the overall economy struggled with weaker U.S. demand, low commodity prices and the fallout from wildfires in Alberta. The Canadian economy is expected to shrink in the second quarter, according to economist and Bank of Canada forecasts.
