Canada: Retail sales declined 0.6% to $47.8 billion in February

According to the latest data released by the Statistics Canada, retail sales declined 0.6% to $47.8 billion in February, following a 2.3% increase in January.

Key findings:

• Sales were down in 5 of 11 subsectors, representing 67% of total retail sales.
• Lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations were the main contributors to the decline. Excluding these two subsectors, retail sales were up 0.5%.
• After removing the effects of price changes, retail sales in volume terms edged down 0.1%.