Canadian wholesale trade up in April

Agricultural supplies helped drive Canadian wholesale trade up 1.5 percent to $49.3 billion in April, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday. Of the seven sectors, agricultural supplies are in the miscellaneous sector, which posted an overall month-over-month gain of 12.8 percent, the report said. "This subsector was stimulated by a 48.5 percent increase in sales in the agricultural supplies industry," StatsCan said. "The rise coincided with a strong increase in exports of fertilizers and fertilizer materials, which were up 51.8 percent in April over March." Accordingly, wholesalers in Alberta contributed the most to the sales growth, followed by wholesalers in Saskatchewan. "The largest sales decrease in dollars occurred in the personal and household goods subsector," the agency said. "Sales fell 2.2 percent, largely reflecting lower sales in the pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies industry."