OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada’s retail sales in October were marginally lower than expected as a jump in new cars sales offset consumers’ reduced purchases at supermarkets, grocery stores and wine shops, data showed on Friday.
Retail sales, considered an early indicator of economic growth, grew by 0.6% in October, Statistics Canada said, adding that sales rose in five of nine subsectors.
November’s retail numbers, based on surveys of only half of the respondents for a preliminary estimate, showed sales were likely flat, Statscan said.
Analysts had forecast 0.7% growth in sales for October and had estimated sales excluding automotive and parts to be at 0.5%.
Excluding the automotive subsector, which accounts for over a quarter of the total retail trade, sales rose only 0.1%.
The marginal increase in October retail sales took them to C$67.58 billion ($46.97 billion) in value, but they were unchanged in volume terms.
The Canadian dollar was largely unchanged in early trading, up only 0.06%, or 69.5 U.S. cents, at 1.4389 against the U.S. dollar.
($1 = 1.4389 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee and Dale Smith; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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