July 21, 2009

Canadian wholesale sales in current dollars fell 0.3% to $40.1billion in May, its lowest level since December 2005. In volume terms, wholesale sales were unchanged in May. Weaker sales in the machinery and equipment, food, and metal products trade groups were the major factors contributing to the decrease during the month. With May’s decline, wholesale sales have fallen for eight consecutive months.

In current dollars, four of the seven sectors, accounting for just over half of total wholesale sales, declined in May.

Sales in the machinery and electronic equipment sector fell0.2% in May. Almost half of this sector is accounted for by the machinery and equipment trade group, which declined 2.3%. Sales in this trade group have declined almost20% since their September2008peak.
The …

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index was -1.80 in June, up from -2.30 in May. All four broad categories of indicators continued to make negative contributions to the index, with employment and housing-related indicators accounting for much of the weakness in June.

The three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, was -2.12 in June, up from -2.65 in the previous month. June’s CFNAI-MA3 suggests that growth in national economic activity was well below its historical trend. With regard to inflation, the amount of economic slack reflected in the CFNAI-MA3 indicates low inflationary pressure from economic activity over the coming year.

The increase in the index was primarily due to the production and income category of indicators. This category made a smaller negative contribution to the …