Canada's wholesale sales fall 0.6% in July after 2 months of gains

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Wholesale sales in Canada fell 0.6% in July to $80.2 billion, after two consecutive months of record high sales in May and June, Statistics Canada said in a statement on Friday.

The decline was in line with the market expectation, while wholesale sales, which is a leading indicator of consumer spending, rose 0.2% in June.

Declines in the personal and household goods subsector led the losses in July, as sales fell in five of seven subsectors that represented 63% of wholesale sales, it said.

Sales of personal and household goods fell 2.6% in July to $10.8 billion, marking the second consecutive month of declining sales and the fourth time in the last six months for that subsector.

In the subsector, textile, clothing and footwear industry led the losses as they declined 13.2% to $1.3 billion for July -- the second consecutive double-digit percentage decrease for the industry.

The declines in July were partially offset by the sales of machinery, equipment and supplies, which increased 1.6% to reach $17 billion in July.