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Canadian Retailers Post Biggest Gain in 10 Months

Canadian Retailers Post Biggest Gain in 10 Months on Gas Sales

(Bloomberg) -- Retail sales in Canada posted the biggest gain in 10 months in March, as the nation’s consumers emerge from a months-long spending slump.

The 1.1% sales gain on the month followed a 1% gain in February, Statistics Canada said Wednesday in Ottawa. In volume terms, sales were up 0.3%, adding to a 0.4% gain the previous month. The March increase came despite a decline in auto sales.

Canadian Retailers Post Biggest Gain in 10 Months

Key Insights

  • A pick-up in receipts was expected on the back of rising prices for gasoline, but the numbers over the past two months suggest Canadians are more in a spending mood beyond the extra cost of filling up their tanks. Excluding cars and gasoline, sales were up 1% in March and 1.1% in volume terms.
  • The gain in March helped retailers eke out a 0.1% increase in the first quarter, after a 0.5% drop in the fourth quarter.
  • The two straight monthly advances come after a run of three monthly declines.
  • In volume terms, retail sales dropped 0.1% in the first quarter, after a 0.2% drop in the last three months of 2018. This means the sector will be slightly less of a drag in first quarter GDP data out later this month, while the stronger volume gain in March bodes well for a better second quarter.
  • Excluding the often volatile auto sector and gasoline sectors, retail sales rose by 1.0% in March, also the fastest growth since last May.

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  • The big negatives in the report were car and auto part sales, which fell 0.7% in March and posted an even bigger decline in volume terms. Car sales are the largest retail industry.
  • Sales were higher in 7 of 11 subsectors
  • Economists had estimated a 1.2% gain in retail sales.
  • Excluding autos, sales were up 1.7% -- topping expectations for a 0.9% gain.
  • Gasoline sales rose 6% in March

--With assistance from Erik Hertzberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Chris Fournier

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