Wholesale sales rose 2.5 per cent to $42.4 billion in November, the fifth increase in six months.

The food, beverages and tobacco products sector was a major driver of November's wholesale sales gain, Statistics Canada says. (CBC)

In volume terms, wholesale sales were up 2.1 per cent, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

November's solid growth was the result of widespread gains, with six of the seven sectors reporting increased sales.

The automotive products sector contributed the most to the rise in November, followed by the food, beverages and tobacco products sector. These two sectors accounted for more than two-thirds of the growth in wholesale sales.

Sales in the automotive products sector rose 7.8 per cent in November to $7.3 billion, the eighth increase since the beginning of 2009.

Gains in most provinces

The sales gains helped push inventories down for a ninth straight month, down 0.2 per cent to $53.8 billion in November. Inventories are now at their lowest level since July 2007.

Canadian wholesalers have had weaker inventories since March, which has resulted in a notable decrease in the inventory-to-sales ratio. This ratio fell from 1.44 in March to 1.27 in November, comparable to what was observed before the economic slowdown.

The inventory-to-sales ratio is a measure of the time in months required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.

Except for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, all provinces posted increased wholesale sales in November. However, Ontario and Quebec were the main contributors to this growth.