The data, published
by Statistics Canada on Friday, showed that Canadian retail sales climbed 0.7
per cent m-o-m to CAD66.80 billion in April, following a downwardly revised 0.3
per cent m-o-m drop (from -0.2 per cent m-o-m) in March. This was the first gain in
retail sales in four months.
Economists
had forecast an advance
of 0.7 per cent m-o-m for April.
According
to the report, 7 of 9 subsectors demonstrated increases in retail sales in April, driven
by gasoline stations and fuel vendors (+4.5 per cent m-o-m) and food and
beverage retailers (+1.9 per cent m-o-m). Meanwhile, motor vehicle and parts
dealers (-2.2 per cent m-o-m) and building material and garden equipment and
supplies dealers (-1.4 per cent m-o-m) showed declines in retail sales in April.
Excluding auto,
retail sales surged 1.8 per cent m-o-m in April after a downwardly revised 0.8 per cent m-o-m fall (from -0.6
per cent m-o-m) in the previous month, being much better than economists’ prediction
of a 0.7 per cent rise.
In y-o-y terms,
Canadian retail sales jumped 1.8 per cent in April, following an unrevised 1.9 per cent soar in the previous month. This
represented the strongest annual increase in retail sales since December 2023.
Statistics
Canada also announced its preliminary estimates suggest that Canada’s retail
sales dropped 0.6 per cent m-o-m
in May.