Wholesale sales roses slightly in October after a steep drop in September, Statistics Canada said today. October sales edged up 0.2%, following September’s decline of 1.8%.

However, StatsCan said inventories rose sharply for a second consecutive month, climbing 1.1%.

The weakness in wholesale sales in the last two months coincided with the slowing down of international trade and the manufacturing sector,” the government agency said.

October sales grew in two of the seven wholesale sectors surveyed by the agency.

The “other-products sector”, which includes chemical and agricultural products and recycled metals, was up by 5.8%. Sales of building materials rose by 2.7%.

The strongest decrease was for machinery and electronic equipment, which fell 1.6%.

In general, total wholesale sales have been rising since October 2003.

“Cumulative sales for the first 10 months of the year were up 6.3% compared with 2003,” the agency said.

“This was a marked improvement compared with the same period in 2003, when wholesale sales were up only 2.6%.”

Inventories rose again in October, following a similar rise in September. “Unlike September, the October increase in inventories was widespread, with gains registered in 11 of the 15 trade groups,” the agency said.

StatsCan said the trend in total inventories has generally been upward since November 2003, following a five-month period when wholesalers reduced their inventories.