Canada Retail Sales Rose 1.3% in November

By Kim Mackrael

OTTAWA--Canadian retail sales unexpectedly posted a strong advance in November, led by higher sales at food and beverage stores.

Retail sales rose 1.3% in November to 55.19 billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of $43.71 billion, Statistics Canada said Friday. Market expectations were for a flat reading, according to CIBC Capital Markets, and Statistics Canada said last month it anticipated retail sales for November would be relatively unchanged.

November marked a seventh consecutive monthly advance in retail sales, though the data agency warned that December sales will likely decline following the introduction of tougher measures across much of the country to contain the new coronavirus.

In volume, or price-adjusted, terms, November retail sales advanced 1.2% from the previous month.

The data agency revised October's retail data to indicate a 0.1% advance in the month, compared with an earlier estimate of a 0.4% increase.

The number of reported Covid-19 cases in Canada rose rapidly in the late fall, prompting officials in several regions to tighten measures to contain the virus in December, including by closing nonessential businesses. After reaching a peak on Jan. 9, the seven-day average of reported Covid-19 cases in Canada has been trending downward and is now close to its early December level, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

An early estimate of retail sales for December suggests the closures had a significant effect on that month's data. Statistics Canada said retail sales likely declined 2.6% in that month, though it added the figure is preliminary and will be revised.

Write to Kim Mackrael at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-22-21 0921ET