Forexpros – Core retail sales in Canada declined unexpectedly in April, while total retail sales also posted a drop, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, Statistics Canada said core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in April, defying expectations for a 0.2% increase.
March’s figure was revised up to a 0.3% increase from a previously reported 0.1% gain.
Core retail sales rose at an annualized rate of 2.5% in April after advancing at the same rate in March.
Total retail sales declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in April, confounding expectations for a gain of 0.3%, after rising by 0.4% in March.
Year-on-year, retail sales rose at an annualized rate of 3.4% in April after climbing 4.1% in March.
Lower sales were reported in 8 of 11 subsectors, representing 78% of retail sales.
Following the release of the data, the Canadian dollar held on to losses against its U.S. counterpart, with USD/CAD gaining 0.26% to trade at 1.0209.
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