Canadian November retail sales jump 0.9%

OTTAWA • Canadian retail sales rose a higher- than- expected 0.9 per cent in November, largely offsetting October’s decline, Statistics Canada said on Friday, as sales picked up at motor vehicle and parts dealers as well as food and beverage stores.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a gain of 0.4 per cent for overall sales. Statistics Canada revised October’s decline down slightly to 1.1 per cent from an initial 1.2 per cent.

Sales excluding autos rose 0.2 per cent in November, the agency noted, lower than the 0.4 per cent gain predicted by analysts.

“November’s retail sales figures did nothing to lift the fog of uncertainty surrounding the health of the Canadian consumer,” said Andrew Grantham, a senior economist with CIBC Capital Markets, in a note.

“With other elements of discre tionar y spending largely weaker on the month, we still think there’s enough concern regarding the consumer outlook to warrant an interest- rate cut by April, particularly if the unemployment rate starts to nudge higher,” he added.

Earlier this week, the Bank of Canada, which has held its overnight interest rate steady for more than a year, opened the door to a possible rate cut if a recent slowdown in domestic growth persisted.

Recent economic data, the bank said, had been mixed, adding it would pay particular attention to developments in consumer spending, the housing market and business investment going forward. Money markets now see about a 24 per cent chance of a rate cut in March.

While the uptick reported in Friday ’ s sales data breaks a string of lacklustre economic figures for November, including disappointing manufacturing and wholesale trade numbers, RBC Senior Economist Nathan Janzen said the data likely won’t change the Bank of Canada’s thinking just yet.

“The central bank will rightly be more focused on economic data releases until it becomes clear whether recent faltering is a sign of underlying fundamental deterioration, or yet another statistical blip in what is often volatile Canadian economic data,” he said in a note.

Statscan said motor vehicle and parts dealer sales rose 3.0 per cent, led primarily by new car dealers, who saw a 2.8 per cent increase in sales.

Meanwhile, food and beverage store receipts increased by 0.9 per cent in November, largely thanks to increased sales at grocery stores, which jumped 1.3 per cent.

Six of the 11 subsectors tracked by Statscan saw an increase, accounting for 70 per cent of all retail trade. In volume terms, retail sales grew by 0.7 per cent.