Wholesale Services Price Index, second quarter 2019
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Released: 2019-10-24
The Wholesale Services Price Index (WSPI) rose 0.5% in the second quarter. Of the eight subsectors, two were up, five were down, and one was unchanged.
Today, Statistics Canada is launching a new interactive dashboard for wholesale and retail services price indexes. With this tool, data users can explore current and historical margin trends for various types of wholesaling and retailing services.
Quarter-over-quarter highlights
The increase in the WSPI in the second quarter was attributable mainly to petroleum and petroleum products merchant wholesalers (+20.4%), which posted the largest margin gain among all subsectors.
The quarterly increase in the WSPI was moderated by food, beverage and tobacco (-2.2%), building material and supplies (-1.5%), farm products (-8.5%), miscellaneous (-1.3%), and motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories (-1.3%) merchant wholesalers.
Margins for machinery, equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers were unchanged.
Chart 1
Wholesale Services Price Index
Year-over-year change
The WSPI was down 0.7% in the second quarter compared with the same quarter in 2018. This decrease was attributable mainly to food, beverage and tobacco (-5.2%) and miscellaneous (-5.5%) merchant wholesalers.
The farm products subsector (-15.8%) posted the largest year-over-year margin decline. Machinery, equipment and supplies (-0.6%) and personal and household goods (-0.2%) merchant wholesalers also decreased.
The year-over-year decline in the WSPI was partially offset by margin gains for petroleum and petroleum products (+7.2%), motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories (+2.7%), and building material and supplies (+2.0%) merchant wholesalers.
Note to readers
The Wholesale Services Price Index (WSPI) represents the change in the price of the wholesale service. The price of the wholesale service is defined as the margin price, which is the difference between the average purchase price and the average selling price of the wholesale product being priced. The WSPI is not a wholesale selling price index.
With each release, data for the previous quarter may have been revised. The series are also subject to an annual revision with the release of second quarter data of the following reference year. The indexes are not seasonally adjusted. Data are available at the Canada level only.
Products
Statistics Canada has a new interactive dashboard for wholesale and retail services price indexes. This web application provides access to wholesale and retail margins data by category. With this tool, data users can explore current and historical trends for various types of wholesaling and retailing services. Key indicators, such as the latest quarterly and annual changes, as well as services price trends, are presented in interactive charts, allowing users to compare and analyze services price changes over time. This web-based application is updated quarterly, as soon as data for the latest reference period are released in The Daily. This tool is part of the Data Visualization Products catalogue (71-607-X).
The study "Recent trends in wholesale and retail softwood lumber prices," part of the Prices Analytical Series (62F0014M), is now available. This study sheds light on the recent price trends with respect to softwood lumber in the Canadian retail and wholesale sectors, and on the supply and demand dynamics in the lumber commodity markets.
Statistics Canada has launched the Producer Prices Portal as a part of a suite of portals for prices and price indexes. This webpage provides Canadians with a single point of access to a wide variety of statistics and measures related to producer prices. The portal offers an array of information on topics such as manufacturing, construction, professional services, distributive trades, and financial services. The portal will be updated regularly, as new information becomes available.
The video "Producer Price Indexes" is available on the Statistics Canada Training Institute webpage. It provides an introduction to Statistics Canada's Producer Price Indexes—what they are, how they are produced, and what they are used for.
Infographic: The evolution of margins in the wholesale trade sector (2008 to 2017)
The infographic "Wholesale Services Price Index (WSPI) 2008 to 2017," part of Statistics Canada — Infographics (11-627-M), is now available. It shows how margins in the Canadian wholesale trade sector evolved from the first quarter of 2008 to the fourth quarter of 2017.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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