08:33 AM EDT, 04/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) were essentially unchanged (+0.0%) in February, Statistics Canada said Monday.

StatsCan noted 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. On an annual basis, wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) were 1.1% lower in February compared with the same month one year earlier.

StatsCan said petroleum products as well as oilseed and grain data continue to be available in data tables but will be excluded from monthly analysis until historical data are available for monthly and annual analysis.

In volume terms, it added, wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) increased by 0.2% in February.

Meanwhile, wholesale inventories (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) fell 1.0% to $126.9 billion in February, their lowest level since December 2022. Declines in inventories were reported in four of the seven subsectors in February, led by food, beverage and tobacco merchant wholesalers (-6.4% to $13.6 billion), followed by machinery, equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers (-1.3% to $38.6 billion).

The inventory-to-sales ratio fell from 1.56 in January to 1.54 in February. This ratio is a measure of the time (in months) required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current levels.