Canadian wholesale sales in January fell by the most in six years, on plummeting shipments of cars.
Sales fell 3.1% to $53.7 billion, the lowest level since August, according to figures released Wednesday by Statistics Canada. Auto-related wholesalers recorded an 11.3% decline. The decline exceeded all 14 forecasts in an economist survey, which had a median drop of 0.8%.
The January data for wholesalers marked a sharp reversal from December, when a 2.8% gain in sales was also the largest since 2009, and driven by a surge in motor vehicle sales. Excluding the motor vehicle sector, wholesale sales were down 1.3% in January.
Four of seven major categories tracked by the agency rose, with two categories little changed, Statistics Canada said. Only the food and beverage sector recorded an increase, gaining 0.9%.
The decline in the auto sector was led by a 15% drop in motor vehicle sales as the parts industry posted a small increase during the month. Building material wholesalers were the second largest weight on sales, recording a 5.3% drop in receipts.
Inventories rose 1.3% to $70.2 billion. The inventory-to-sales ratio, a measure of how many months it would take to deplete stocks at the current sales pace, rose to 1.31 in January, the highest level since June 2009, from 1.25 in December.
Wholesale sales in January were 7.1% above year ago levels, the agency also said.
