NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Retail sales rise in September
Retail sales totalled 36.3 billion dollars in September, up 1.1 per cent from August and the strongest sales increase in eight months.
Retail sales totalled $36.3 billion in September, up 1.1 per cent from August and the strongest sales increase in eight months.
Statistics Canada reports sales by new-car dealers were up for the
first time since January, accounting for most of the growth just as the
global economic crisis was beginning to set in.
Retail sales by volume rose 0.7 with price changes factored in.
The agency says five of eight sectors posted higher sales, accounting for 75 per cent of retail sales.
Sales
in the automotive sector were 2.2 per cent higher in September, largely
owing to a 2.9 per cent increase in sales by new-car dealers.
Gasoline
sales rose 1.7 per cent, while general merchandise stores and the
food-and-beverage sector also posted increases of over one per cent.
The
most substantial sales decrease came in the building and outdoor home
supplies stores sector, its first drop since April 2008.
Seven
provinces registered sales increases above one per cent in September,
with Quebec posting the strongest increase at 2.3 per cent.
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