Canada's retail sales fall in Jan

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FE Team | Published: March 24, 2024 23:44:21

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OTTAWA, Mar 24 (Reuters): Canada's retail sales contracted a little less than expected in January, weighed down by lower goods prices and sales of motor vehicle and parts, data showed on Friday.
Retail sales dropped by 0.3 per cent in January after a 0.9 per cent jump in December that was spurred by holiday season sales, Statistics Canada said.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.4 per cent drop in retail sales in January.
A preliminary estimate of February's sales figure showed that sales were likely to increase by 0.1 per cent, but this data is sourced only from half of the total respondents usually surveyed, Statscan said.
In volume terms, however, sales were up 0.2 per cent in January.
"Today's data show that consumer spending is still struggling to grow in a higher interest rate world, but is not collapsing," Andrew Grantham, senior economist at CIBC, wrote in a note.
Retail sales in January totaled C$66.38 billion ($48.93 billion), with a contraction in three of the nine sub-sectors, Statscan said.