Canada wholesale sales data for July 2021
- prior month -0.8%
- wholesale sales for the month of July -2.1% versus -2.0% estimate. The decline is the second consecutive decline in the largest since April 2020
- excluding the sharp decline from the first wave of the Covid, the July fall was the largest since February 2016 when sales fell by -2.1%
- the decline was entirely the result of -12.4% drop in sales of building materials and supplies, fueled by lower prices for lumber. The decline was the second-largest in the past 12 years
- excluding building materials and supplies wholesale sales rose +0.1%
- also inventories rose 0.6% in July to a new high of $95.7 billion. Inventories and five the seven subsectors increased representing 77 percent of the total inventories
- the increases, as wholesalers dependent on international markets are contending with sharp increases in the cost of shipping containers as well as shortages of wood pallets and related shipping materials driving up the cost of inputs required by a broad range of wholesalers
- inventory to sales ratio increased to 1.37 in July. The inventory to sales ratio is a measure of the time in months required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at the current levels
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