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October 19, 2020WHOLESALE TRADE, AUGUST 2020
MONTH-OVER-MONTH (seasonally adjusted, Aug 2020 vs Jul 2020)
- Nova Scotia Wholesale Trade increased 2.2 per cent to $967.6 million.
- Canada Wholesale Trade increased 0.3 per cent to $65.7 billion
- Five provinces reported monthly increases in wholesale trade, with Prince Edward Island (5.4 per cent) reporting the largest gain
- Newfoundland and Labrador(4.8 per cent) reported the largest decline
YEAR-OVER-YEAR (seasonally adjusted, Aug 2020 vs Aug 2019)
- Nova Scotia Wholesale Trade increased 7.1 per cent
- Canada Wholesale Trade decreased 3.4 per cent
- Nine provinces reported monthly increases in wholesale trade, with New Brunswick (7.3 per cent) and Nova Scotia (7.1 percent) reporting the largest gains
- Alberta (-2.7 per cent) reporting the only decline
YEAR-TO-DATE (seasonally adjusted, Jan-Aug 2020 vs Jan-Aug 2019)
- Nova Scotia Wholesale Trade decreased 3.6 per cent to $7.0 billion
- Canada Wholesale Trade decreased 4.1 per cent to $487.1 billion
- One province reported year to date increases in wholesale trade: Prince Edward Island (2.8 per cent)
- Newfoundland and Labrador (10.2 per cent) reported the largest decline
TRENDS
Wholesale Trade in both Nova Scotia and Canada has returned to its previous growth trend after the sharp decline brought about by the pandemic of early 2020.
Comparing Wholesale trade from February to August 2020, Only two provinces report declines: Newfoundland and Labrador (-2.5%) and Alberta (-1.8%). All other provinces reports that wholesale sales werer higher in August than in February.
INVENTORIES (Canada, August 2020 vs July 2020)
National wholesale inventories were virtually unchanged (+$6.5 million) July to August.
"Higher inventories in four of the seven subsectors were offset by lower inventories in the other three subsectors. The largest increase in inventories was recorded in the machinery, equipment and supplies subsector (+0.9% to $26.4 billion), whereas the largest decrease in inventories was recorded in the building material and supplies subsector (-2.4% to $14.0 billion).
The inventory-to-sales ratio, remained unchanged at 1.37 from July to August. This was the lowest level since August 2018. The inventory-to-sales ratio is a measure of the time (in months) required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level." Statistics Canada
NOVA SCOTIA SECTORS
Year-to-Date (seasonally adjusted, Jan-Aug 2020 vs Jan-Aug 2019)
Nova Scotia Total wholesale trade decreased 3.6 per cent (-$260.3 million)
- Food, beverage decreased 3.6 per cent (-$90.1 million)
- Motor vehicle and parts decreased 13.5 per cent (-$173.1 million)
- Building material increased 0.5 per cent ($6.8 million)
- Machinery, equipment decreased 2.0 per cent (-$24.9 million)
- Miscellaneous wholesalers increased 11.2 per cent ($54.7 million)
- Other wholesalers decreased 8.2 per cent (-$33.7 million)
Reference Tables
20-10-0074-01 Seasonally adjusted Wholesale sales by province
20-10-0074-01 Nova Scotia seasonally adjusted Wholesale trade by NAICS sectors
20-10-0076-01 Canada seasonally adjusted Wholesale Trade Inventory
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