Disappointing car sales led to a surprise 0.2% fall in Canada's retail trade in February, the same month that the motor vehicle business had actually boosted wholesale trade, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday.
Making for an even soggier read, the volume of sales, used in calculating real gross domestic product (GDP), slumped by 0.6% from January. And January's retail sales gain was revised down to 0.2% from 0.5%.
Excluding the auto sector, February sales were up 0.5%, compared with a 0.8% fall in January (revised from 0.5%). February sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers fell 2.4%, with new car sales down 2.8%, after a strong January.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected no change in overall retail sales and a 0.4% rise excluding autos.
Wholesale trade data released on Monday had shown an unexpected 1.6% rise in February, largely due to motor vehicles. That had led analysts to suggest February GDP data, to be released on April 30, could be robust, but the retail data would now be expected to lead to second thoughts.
