The latest wholesale trade numbers confirm that Albertans and Alberta businesses continue to have faith in the province's economic recovery. Wholesale trade is a good barometer for future retail conditions and the economy, in general.
In November of last year, total wholesale activity in the province reached $6.8 billion. Sales were unmoved from October, but compared to the same month a year earlier, sales were up 14.2 per cent.
On a year-over-year basis, wholesale activity has grown in all but one sub-sector. Sales from food, beverage, and tobacco merchants shrunk by about one per cent. Meanwhile, farm products (+93.8 per cent), building materials and supplies (+27.2 per cent), and machinery, equipment and supplies (+20.0 per cent) have grown significantly over the course of 12 months.
Although November’s total shows a pause in wholesale activity from the previous month, growth in sales activity in the majority of wholesale’s sub-sectors suggests Alberta's economic recovery is still well underway.