(OTTAWA) Sales at Canadian retailers rose 0.5% in December to $62.1 billion, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.
The federal agency’s preliminary estimate for January suggests Canadian consumers continued to spend in the first month of the new year. Retail sales might thus have increased by 0.7% last month, but Statistics Canada warns that this preliminary figure might be called upon to change between now and its official publication.
Sales increased in seven of eleven subsectors in December, accounting for 75.1% of retail trade.
According to Statistics Canada, sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, up 3.8%, and those at general merchandise stores, which climbed 1.7%, fueled the growth.
The December result suggests that the economy ended 2022 on a positive note, said Randall Bartlett, senior director of the Canadian economy at Desjardins Economic Studies. However, some of that momentum might be fleeting, he warned.
“The rise in auto sales was partly attributable to the delivery of cars ordered earlier in the year, a situation that likely continued into January,” Bartlett said in a note.
“Therefore, the interim result showing continued strength in the retail sector will not be enough to change the Bank of Canada’s outlook that the economy is expected to slow significantly this year. »
Overall core retail sales, which exclude sales at gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers, rose 0.4% in December.
Expressed in volume, retail sales climbed 1.3% in December.
Retail sales rose in four provinces in December, notably by 1.1% in Quebec, which benefited from the 1.7% increase measured in the Montreal metropolitan area.
However, sales were down across the Maritimes. They fell 0.5% in Prince Edward Island, 0.9% in New Brunswick and 1.0% in Nova Scotia.
