Canadian wholesale trade unexpectedly slid by 1.2% in February from January following three months of gains, dragged down by vehicles and machinery and equipment, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
Statscan advised that the February numbers reflect revisions it has made to the sample of wholesalers it surveys, resulting in changes to all of its data back to 2004, using January 2010 as the base month.
The figures are therefore not comparable to those released in previous months. Last month, the agency had estimated that wholesale trade grew 3% in January but with the new data set, that growth is now pegged at 2.4%.
The median forecast of analysts surveyed by Reuters was for a 0.7% gain in wholesale activity in February.
In volume terms, sales fell 1.8 percent in the month. Inventories edged up 0.1% after losing 1% in January, according to the revisions.
Vehicle sales tumbled 5.3%, the first decline since August 2009. Sales in the machinery, equipment and supplies sector fell 2.8%, the first decrease in six months.
Related Stories
