The data, published by Statistics Canada on Friday, revealed that
Canadian retail sales climbed 0.7 per cent m-o-m to CAD66.95 billion in October,
following a downwardly revised 0.6 per cent m-o-m increase (from +0.6 per cent
m-o-m) in September. This was the strongest monthly advance in retail sales
since April (+1.0 per cent m-o-m).
Economists had predicted a 0.8 per cent m-o-m rise for October.
According to the report, 7 of 9 subsectors witnessed increases in retail
sales in October. Sales at clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, jewellery,
luggage and leather goods retailers (+2.4 per cent m-o-m) recorded the largest advance,
followed by general merchandise retailers (+2.0 per cent m-o-m), health and
personal care retailers (+1.5 per cent m-o-m), furniture, home furnishings,
electronics and appliances retailers (+1.3 per cent m-o-m), and motor vehicle
and parts dealers (+1.1 per cent m-o-m). Meanwhile, gasoline stations and fuel
vendors (-3.1 per cent m-o-m), and building material and garden equipment and
supplies dealers (-0.2 per cent m-o-m) were the sectors that saw declines in retail sales in October.
Excluding auto, retail sales jumped 0.6 per cent m-o-m in October after a downwardly revised 0.1 per
cent m-o-m uptick (from +0.2 per cent m-o-m) in the previous month, being
marginally better than economists’ estimate of a 0.5 per cent m-o-m gain.
In y-o-y terms, Canadian retail sales soared 2.2 per cent in October,
following an unrevised 2.7 per cent surge
in the previous month.