Canadian retail sales were reported to have increased slightly in August, marking a recovery from the biggest decline in more than a year in July.
Retail sales rose 0.4% in August as reported by Statistics Canada just now. This increase follows a 2.5% drop in sales in July, which was the first decline in seven months and the largest since April 2021. Sales figures were lower at gas stations and clothing stores leading to a decrease in July.
Analysts closely monitor retail spending to make arbitrage for measures to counter inflation and rising interest rates. The latest economic data suggests the Canadian economy has started to slow from a strong first half of 2022.
A rebound of 0.4% increase in August still put retail sales below their level in June. Sales in terms of volume, while still remaining sluggish are almost unchanged from last year's levels.
So far, the Department of Statistics has not provided further details this month. However, sales fell in nine of the 11 subsectors in July, representing 94.5% of retail trade. Excluding cars and parts, retail sales fell 3.1%.
The Canadian currency remains weak against the US dollar. The US dollar traded 0.22% firmer against the Canadian currency at 1.3494.
