Canada's wholesale sales unchanged in February

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Wholesale sales in Canada remained unchanged in February, compared to the previous month, according to the statistics office on Monday.

The market expectation for the figure was to show a gain of 0.8%.

Wholesale sales, a leading indicator of consumer spending, rose 0.1% in January to $82.4 billion.

"Sales increased in four of the seven subsectors, led by the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector and the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector," Statistics Canada said in a statement.

"Sales in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector grew by 1.1% to $17.6 billion in February, their second consecutive increase following four months of decline," it added.

On an annual basis, however, wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, other hydrocarbons, oilseed, and grain, were 1.1% lower in February, compared with the same month of last year.