MNI 5 THINGS: Canada February Core Retail Sales Disappoint>

By Courtney Tower

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

data on Canadian retail sales released Friday by Statistics Canada: 

     - Retail sales rose 0.4%, compared to a 0.5% gain expected by 

analysts in a MNI survey. However, the overall picture was disappointing 

in that the increase was due only to motor vehicle and parts sales 

(+1.4%) with a little help from general merchandise stores (+2.0%). 

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, February sales were flat, compared 

to analysts' forecast of a 0.4% gain. Gasoline sales fell sharply 

(-0.9%), the first decrease since June 2017, although year-over-year 

sales were up 10.5%. 

     - Sales volumes increased by 0.3% on the month. That was an 

improvement over volume sales in January (-0.2%) and over December last 

year (-1.3%), although the recovery was limited in scope. 

     - Sales were up only in four of the 11 sub-sectors, representing 

47% of total sales. Sales excluding autos and gas were up 0.2%. 

     - Adjusted retail sales data were revised back to January 2009. As 

a result, total sales dropped by a large -1.1% in November versus a 

+0.5% gain earlier reported. They fell by 1.2% in December rather than 

by -0.7%. They turned slightly positive in January (+0.1%) instead of 

the +0.3% initially reported. 

     - In the auto trade, new cars were the big factor, rising by +1.8%. 

Used car sales rose by +3.0%. Both had declined in January. New cars are 

up 2.4% year-over-year and used cars up 9.7% on the year. 

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

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