Retail sales increased 1.1% to $63.1 billion in June, the sixth consecutive increase. Sales were up in 8 of 11 subsectors, representing 76.8% of retail trade. Higher sales at gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers led the increase, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Core retail sales—which exclude gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers—edged up 0.2%. In volume terms, retail sales were up 0.2% in June.
Retail sales were up 3.2% in the second quarter. In volume terms, quarterly sales were up 0.9%.
Given the continually evolving economic situation, Statistics Canada is providing an advance estimate of retail sales, which suggests that sales decreased 2.0% in July. Owing to its early nature, this figure will be revised. This unofficial estimate was calculated based on responses received from 36.5% of companies surveyed. The average final response rate for the survey over the previous 12 months has been 91.3%.
Leading the increase in retail sales in June were higher sales at gasoline stations (+3.9%), which recorded their sixth consecutive increase. In volume terms, sales at gasoline stations decreased 1.3%. Gasoline prices rose 6.2% on an unadjusted basis in June. Gas prices largely followed crude oil prices, which peaked in the first week of June but eased in the remaining weeks amid slowing demand worldwide on concerns of a global economic slowdown.
Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers were up 1.8% in June. The increase was largely the result of higher sales at new car dealers (+2.9%). Higher sales were also reported at used car dealers (+1.7%), which recorded their fastest pace of growth since October 2021. Lower sales were reported at other motor vehicle dealers (-6.9%) and automotive parts, accessories and tire stores (-0.8%).
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