Wholesale sales reversed course in February as declines in several sectors erased all of January’s gains, Statistics Canada reported today.

Sales by Canadian wholesalers fell 1.8% in February to $42.6 billion, StatsCan said.

Most sectors reported lower sales, with the largest decline — 4% — coming in the automotive sector.

There were also notable drops in the “other products” sector (down 3.4%), which includes agricultural chemicals, recycled materials, paper products and non-agricultural products, as well as personal and household goods (down 2.4) and building materials (down 2.2).

The only two bright spots were the food, beverage and tobacco products sector (up 0.7%), which was buoyed by a turnaround in alcohol and tobacco sales, and the farm products sector (up 4.3), which recovered from a weak start to the year.

StatsCan said wholesale sales have been trending gradually downward since July 2007, largely as a result of a significant decline in the automotive sector.

When measured in constant dollars, which removes price change effects to provide an indicator of volume, sales were 2% lower in February compared with the previous month.

Meanwhile, six of 10 components rose in March as the composite leading index remained unchanged after a decline in February, StatsCan said.

The government agency said both housing and new orders for durable goods rebounded from large declines, while overall household spending led growth and the stock market replaced manufacturing as the economy’s weakest sector.

All components related to household spending advanced.

Outlays for durable goods posted a third straight gain, as auto sales remained on a strong upward trend, and the housing index rebounded 0.2% after five straight declines.

The downward trend of the stock market deepened for a fifth straight month, and its 1.9% drop was the most of any component.

Export demand continued to reel from declines in the United States, reflected in a seventh straight drop in its leading index.