Canadian wholesalers increased their sales for the fifth time in six months in March, Statistics Canada reported today.

Strong gains for personal and household goods, food and drink, and machinery and electronic equipment boosted sales by 0.5% to $39.1 billion.

Sales were down for farm supplies, farm products, and building materials.

The government agency said that for the first three months of this year, wholesale sales were up 1.5% from the same period of last year to $116.5 billion.