Retail sales rise in June: Stats Can
Statistics Canada says retail sales rose 1.5% to $70.2 billion in June, helped by increased spending at food and beverage retailers.
However, the agency says its preliminary estimate for July pointed to a 0.8% drop in retail sales for that month, though it cautioned the figure would be revised.
Retail sales in June were up in all nine subsectors tracked by Statistics Canada with sales at food and beverage retailers up 2.3%.
Sales at clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers gained 5.1% in June, while general merchandise retailers rose 1.6%.
Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers, gained 1.9% in June.
In volume terms, retail sales rose 1.5%.
Note that in May, the only subsector within core retail sales to post a decline was food and beverage retailers, down 1.2%, led by lower sales at beer, wine and liquor retailers, along with supermarkets and other grocery retailers.
In volume terms, overall retail sales decreased 1.4 per cent in May.
Statistics Canada noted at the time that 32% of retail businesses said they were impacted by trade tensions in May. Some of the most common impacts included price increases, change in demand for product and increased expenses for raw materials, shipping or labour.