Canada January wholesale trade up 1.8% on autos

    OTTAWA, March 23 (Reuters) - Canadian wholesale trade
increased by 1.8% in January from December on stronger sales in
the motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts and accessories
subsector, Statistics Canada said on Monday.
    Sales were up in all seven subsectors, while sales grew in
seven of the ten provinces. Sales rose by 1.7% in volume terms.
    
 Percent       Jan         Jan         Dec (rev)   Dec (prev)
 changes                                           
               mo/mo       yr/yr       mo/mo       mo/mo
 Wholesale     +1.8        +3.2        +1.0        +0.9
 trade                                             
 Wholesale     +1.5        +2.5        +0.6        +0.6
 trade                                             
 ex-autos                                          
 Wholesale     +0.1        +3.2        +0.3        +0.4
 inventories                                       
 
 Sectors                       Jan mo/mo   Jan yr/yr
 Farm products                 +4.0        +9.6
 Food/beverages/tobacco        +1.2        +3.5
 Personal/household            +1.8        +9.0
 Motor Vehicles and Parts      +3.0        +6.6
 Building materials/supplies   +1.8        +0.3
 Machinery/equipment           +0.3        -0.0
 Misc.                         +3.1        -0.2
 
    NOTE: Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast a 0.2%
decrease in wholesale trade in January from December. All
figures are seasonally adjusted. 

 (Reporting by Dale Smith, Editing by Kelsey Johnson)