Feb 22 (Reuters) – Canadian retail sales grew by 0.9% in December from November at C$67.30 billion ($49.81 billion), led by increases at motor vehicle and parts dealers, as well as general merchandise stores, Statistics Canada said on Thursday. Sales were likely down 0.4% in January, the agency said in a flash estimate.
In December, sales were up in five of nine subsectors, representing 75.3% of retail trade. In volume terms, retail sales increased 0.8%.
(Percent changes) Dec Dec Nov(rev) Nov(prev)
mo/mo yr/yr mo/mo mo/mo
Total +0.9 +2.9 -0.0 -0.2
Excluding autos/parts +0.6 +1.3 -0.4 -0.5
NOTE: All figures are seasonally adjusted. Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast December retail sales to be up 0.8% on the month, and to be up 0.7% excluding autos.
($1=$1.3510 Canadian)
(Reporting by Dale Smith; Keywords: CANADA ECONOMY/RETAIL)
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