Wholesale trade sales keep rising

Measured in real terms‚ seasonally adjusted wholesale trade sales increased by 8.8% in April compared with March following month-on-month changes of -5.8% in March and -1.9% in February.

Stats SA said in a cautionary note that the Easter weekend fell partly in March and partly in April this year whereas last year it fell in April.

"This may have positively affected the performance of wholesale trade in April this year‚ which should be taken into account in assessing the increase‚" Stats SA said.

Stats SA said that the 8.8% monthly jump should be treated with caution given the "Easter effect".

Seasonally adjusted wholesale trade sales decreased by 1.4% in the three months ended April compared with the previous three months.

Measured in nominal terms (current prices)‚ wholesale trade sales increased by 12.7% in April this year compared with April last year.

The major contributors to this increase were dealers in other household goods except precious stones contributing 2.8 percentage points; agricultural raw materials and livestock‚ contributing 2.1 percentage points; food‚ beverages and tobacco‚ contributing 1.6 percentage points; and other goods‚ contributing 1.5 percentage points.

Wholesale trade sales increased by 8.4% in the three months ended April this year compared with the three months ended April last year.

The major contributors to this increase were dealers in food‚ beverages and tobacco‚ contributing 2.0 percentage points; solid‚ liquid and gaseous fuels and related products‚ contributing 1.9 percentage points; and other household goods except precious stones‚ contributing 1.6 percentage points.