Statistics Canada reported on Wednesday the wholesale sales fell 2.2 percent m-o-m to CAD63.85 million in March, following an unrevised 0.7 percent m-o-m gain in February. That represented the biggest decline in wholesale sales since January of 2015.

Economists had forecast a 3.8 m-o-m decrease for March.

According to the report, lower sales were recorded in three of seven subsectors, accounting for 29 percent of total wholesale sales. The motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector (-21.2 percent m-o-m, the largest monthly drop since January 2009) contributed the most to the March decline. Excluding this subsector, wholesale sales rose 2.1 percent m-o-m.

In y-o-y terms, wholesale sales decreased 0.3 percent in March.

In the first quarter of 2020, wholesale rose 1.4 percent y-o-y, following a 1.4 percent y-o-y decline in the fourth quarter of 2019.