Wholesale sales of apparel records major drop in Feb

22 Apr '06

4 min read

Sales fell in five of the seven sectors, with the largest declines in personal and household goods (-3.7 percent) and automotive products (-1.1 percent).

The farm products sector posted a 4.5 percent increase in sales after three months of steep declines. Despite lower sales in February, wholesale sales have been on an upward trend since September 2003, with strength in most trade groups.

Previously, slumping motor vehicle sales were the main cause of a decline that began in April 2003.

A drop in wholesale sales of apparel (-25.7 percent), caused the personal and household goods sector to decline in February (-3.7 percent).

Previously, wholesale sales of apparel had followed an upward trend since the last quarter of 2004.

This trade group had greatly benefited when the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, which imposed import quotas, was terminated.

This enabled some wholesalers to obtain supplies cheaply. Even before the Agreement was abolished, more than two-thirds (68 percent) of apparel sold wholesale in Canada came from abroad.

Sales of household and personal products fell 0.3 percent, the second decline in three months. These declines followed two months of robust sales.
BR> Wholesale sales fell in February in all provinces and territories except Saskatchewan (+6.6 percent), Prince Edward Island (+5.0 percent) and Alberta (+1.2 percent).

With sales down in Canada as a whole, declines of more than 1.0 percent were recorded in seven provinces and territories.

Statistics Canada

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