MNI 5 THINGS: Canada December Retail Sales Disappoint>

     OTTAWA (MNI) - The following are the key points from the December 

data on Canadian retail sales released Thursday by Statistics Canada: 

     - Total sales contracted 0.8%, more than the 0.1% decrease expected 

by analysts in a MNI survey. December decline marks the largest drop 

since March 2016, and adds downside risk to the Bank of Canada's fourth 

quarter GDP growth estimate. 

     - Sales volumes, more relevant to real GDP, also declined 0.8%, the 

largest drop since March 2016 as well. 

     - However, sales still managed to accelerate in 4Q. Nominal sales 

rose 1.5% after a 0.6% gain in 3Q, and real sales rebounded 0.9% after 

edging down 0.1%. For 2017 as a whole, sales rose 6.7%, the largest 

increase since 1997. 

     - Sales were down in 6 of 11 subsectors in December, representing 

42% of retail trade. General merchandise sales explained 80% of the 

total decline. Excluding this subsector, sales were still down 0.2% 

(-0.3% in volume). 

     - Auto sales rose 2.1%, and gasoline stations were down 0.8%. Sales 

excluding autos and parts fell 1.8%, and sales excluding autos and gas 

stations dropped 2.0%, both marking the largest decrease since January 

2015. 

--MNI Ottawa Bureau; email: yali.ndiaye@marketnews.com 

[TOPICS: M$C$$$,MACDS$]