One economic sign in this country paled in the last month of 2020 amid sharply lower auto sales.
Statistics Canada says wholesale trade fell 1.3% in December to $66.5 billion, for the first downward reading since April.
Vehicles are one of the largest categories of wholesale trade, and the nation's number crunchers say auto sales, as well as car and truck parts and accessories, were down 4.3% to $10.7 billion, the lowest level since July.
Despite the monthly dip, the agency says that wholesale trade was still up compared with the pre-pandemic levels of February 2020, amid a 12.2% surge in sales of building materials and supplies.
