Wholesale sales rose again in January, continuing a general advance that has lasted more than two years, Statistics Canada reports.

A broad-based advance led overall sales to jump 1.8% to $41.3 billion.

Sales rose in six of the seven sectors led by machinery and electronic equipment and automotive products.

Wholesale trade has generally been rising since September 2003.

Sales in the machinery and electronic equipment sector rose 3.2% in January to $8.4 billion. Sales of computers and electronic products grew by 7.8% in January.

The auto products sector rose 2.7% in January, because of higher wholesale sales of motor vehicles. However, sales of motor vehicle parts slipped 1.4%.

Farm product wholesalers saw sales fall for the third consecutive month with an 8.1% drop in January, mainly due to weakness in sales of live animals.

British Columbia wholesalers saw their sales rise 2.3% in January, while their Ontario counterparts had an increase of 2,2%.

In Saskatchewan, wholesale sales fell 10.8%, the second consecutive monthly drop.