The data, published
by Statistics Canada on Friday, revealed that Canadian retail sales fell 0.3
per cent m-o-m to CAD 65.73 billion in June, following an unrevised 0.8 per cent m-o-m decline in May.
Economists
had expected a decrease
of 0.3 per cent m-o-m for June.
According
to the report, 4 of 9 subsectors demonstrated declines in retail sales in June, led by motor vehicle and parts dealers (-2.1 per cent m-o-m).
Excluding auto,
retail sales increased 0.3 per cent m-o-m in June after an upwardly revised 1.2 per cent m-o-m plunge (from -1.3
per cent m-o-m) in the previous month, being much better than economists’ estimate of a
0.2 per cent drop.
In y-o-y terms,
Canadian retail sales rose 0.2 per cent in June, following an unrevised 1.0 per cent surge in the previous month. This
represented the weakest annual gain in retail sales since a fall in January (-0.1
per cent).
Statistics
Canada also said its preliminary estimates suggest that Canada’s retail sales jumped 0.6 per cent m-o-m in July.