MNI DATA REACT: Canada April Flash Retails -15.6%, March -10%

By Greg Quinn

     OTTAWA (MNI) - Canadian retail sales dropped a record 15.6% in April

according to a flash estimate, following a 10% fall in March led by auto sales

as health officials shut businesses to control the coronavirus.

     Statistics Canada said it provided the April figure "given the rapidly

evolving economic situation," and warned that "owing to its preliminary nature,

this figure should be expected to be revised." It didn't break out further

details by industry.

     The March decline is the biggest on record and sales of CAD47.1 billion are

the lowest since November 2016. Statistics Canada said the decline is comparable

to the 7.1% fall recorded in the U.S. for March.

     Auto dealer sales dropped 36% in March and gasoline receipts by 20% as

prices plunged due to a global supply glut. The volume of gasoline sold fell

just 1.8%.

     --SHUTDOWNS

     Four in 10 stores closed in March with an average shutdown of five business

days, Statistics Canada said Friday from Ottawa. Clothing stores were hardest

hit as sales fell 51% as with nine in 10 of those stores closed for an average

of 13 days. 

     The declines were somewhat narrow, covering six in 11 subsectors worth 39%

of the industry's total sales. Food and beverage stores saw sales jump 23% in

March, and other retailers may been able to stem their losses by expanding

online operations.

     Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz told reporters Thursday that a

best-case scenario where the economy re-opens quickly and moves back to normal

without much permanent damage is still within reach, citing reports of consumers

eager to line up at stores as soon as they re-open. Poloz retires in early June

and advised that policymakers be patient in removing measures to sustain the

economy.

--MNI Ottawa Bureau; +1 613-314-9647; email: greg.quinn@marketnews.com

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