Manitoba wholesalers lost some of the ground gained in the first two months of this year after becoming one of six provinces to record a decline in sales in March.
According to new Statistics Canada figures released today, Manitoba’s wholesalers rang up $1.06 billion worth of sales in March. That was a 4.1 per cent decline from February, and reversed the upward trend of the first two months of 2008.
Preliminary figures released earlier had sales increasing by 8.9 per cent in January and 0.7 per cent in February.
On a year-over-year basis, Manitoba’s numbers were a little better. Statistics Canada said March’s total was a 1.5 per cent increase from March, 2007’s tally of $1.04 billion, making Manitoba one of only five provinces to post a year-over-year increase for the month.
Nationally, wholesalers reported a modest rebound in March, with sales up 0.6 per cent from February to $42.7 billion. That recouped some of 2.1 per cent decline posted in February, the agency said.
Wholesale sales are considered an indicator of whether consumers are likely to continue their free-spending ways, or are in a belt tightening mood.
That’s because retaileres tend to order more product from wholesalers if they anticipate heavier consumer spending in the months ahead.
Similarly, they scale back their orders if they think consumers are tightening the purse strings.
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