Wholesale sales in B.C. far outpaced the Canadian average, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.
Sales by wholesale merchants rose 5.2% in B.C. in February compared with the same month in 2012, the nation’s number cruncher reported. That compares with a meagre 0.8% rise in wholesale sales in the country as a whole during the same two periods.
Drops in computers and toiletries curbed gains at automobile dealers.
Motor vehicle and parts sales rose 3% to $8.23 billion.
But computer and communications equipment sales dropped 8.2% to $3.10 billion and toiletries fell 8% to $633 million, according to the report.
The big drag on the country’s overall figure came from Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, where wholesale sales fell 3.4%.
The Bank of Canada on April 17 cut its 2013 growth forecast to 1.5% from 2%, citing weakness in business and government spending.
