Wholesale sales edged up 0.3 per cent to $41.1 billion in October, the fourth increase in five months.

Sales by volume were up 0.4 per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The sales increase was mainly attributed to the automotive products and machinery and electronic equipment sectors. Growth in those sectors offset weak sales in food, beverages and tobacco products.

Overall, five of the seven wholesale trade sectors the data agency tracks posted stronger sales.

Automotive product sales climbed 1.5 per cent to $6.6 billion. The sector fell in August and September.

The upturn was the result of a 2.6 per cent rise in sales of vehicles themselves, fuelled by stronger demand for passenger cars in Canada and the United States.

Passenger car sales in Canada were up 5.3 per cent over September, while Canadian exports of passenger cars rose 4.7 per cent, Statistics Canada's most recent new motor vehicle sales survey found.

The machinery and electronic equipment sector rose 1.1 per cent in October, largely as a result of a 4.1 per cent hike in sales for wholesalers of computers and other electronic equipment.

The only declines were in the food, beverage and tobacco products sector, down 1.8 per cent, and the "other products" sector, which was down 0.2 per cent.

Regional differences

Wholesale trade was higher in six provinces, although Ontario was the biggest contributor to the growth, posting its seventh increase in sales since the beginning of the year. Led by higher sales in the automotive products sector, sales in Ontario rose 0.9 per cent to $20.8 billion in October.

In Quebec, sales rose by 0.7 per cent, the first rise in three months, largely as a result of stronger sales in the personal and household goods sector.

After shrinking for three consecutive months, sales in British Columbia increased 1.2 per cent in October, in part because of higher sales in the building materials sector.

All of the Prairie provinces posted declines in October. In Saskatchewan, wholesale sales fell 6.3 per cent as a result of weakness in the "other products" sector.