Canadian retail sales up 0.6% in October, buoyed by vehicle purchases
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/12/2024 (329 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
OTTAWA – Retail sales rose 0.6 per cent to $67.6 billion in October, led by increases in vehicle sales, said Statistics Canada on Friday.
Core retail sales, which exclude the often volatile categories like gasoline stations, fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers, rose a more modest 0.2 per cent.
The core measure was down from a 1.4 per cent gain in September, while Statistics Canada said its advance estimate for November shows retail sales were relatively unchanged.
The modest growth outside of automotive sales and the forward outlook point to a slowdown, said CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham in a note.
“Combined with an advance estimate for no change in November, it appears that growth in retail sales volumes is taking a breather following the surge seen in Q3.”
In volume terms, retail sales were unchanged in October.
The automotive sector saw the largest rise in sales, including 2.5 per cent increases for sales at both new and used car dealers.
Sales at gasoline stations and fuel vendors were down 0.5 per cent in October, marking a sixth consecutive month of declines.
In the core measure, the agency said gains were driven by higher sales at furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers, which saw a 2.5 per cent increase.
Food and beverage retailers saw the biggest drop in October, down 0.7 per cent.
Grantham said the estimate of no growth in November could have been affected by the federal government’s announced GST holiday, but it won’t be clear until December numbers are released.
And while October gains were slower than the previous month, the picture isn’t too bad.
“Even though the latest release wasn’t as strong as the prior one, consumer spending has still improved relative to the trend seen earlier in the year,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2024.