By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA--Canadian retail sales rose in August, led by strong gains in receipts at grocery stores, gas stations and clothing outlets.
Retail sales jumped 2.1% in August to a seasonally-adjusted 57.21 billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of US$46.26 billion, Statistics Canada said Friday. Market expectations were for a 2% advance, according to economists at Desjardins Securities. Excluding the auto sector, which is dealing with supply-chain disruptions related to a shortage of semiconductor chips, Canadian retail transactions advanced 2.8%.
In the previous month, retail sales fell by a revised 0.1%, or not as steep as the previous estimate of 0.6% drop.
In volume, or price-adjusted, terms, retail sales climbed 1.4% in August.
Statistics Canada added that its early indicators for retail sales in September suggest a decline of 1.9%, although that is subject to revision. Economists at Royal Bank of Canada said this month consumer spending slipped on services in September, based on its tracking of anonymized card transactions, which they attributed to concerns about Covid-19's Delta variant. Nevertheless, spending remains well above pre-pandemic levels.
The Bank of Canada has estimated that Canadian households amassed C$180 billion in savings as a result of the pandemic, and economists say this should help fuel domestic consumption in the foreseeable future.
The August retail report indicated the gain in sales was broad based, with nine of 11 sectors tracked reporting increases, led by food and beverage stores, up 4.8%; gasoline stations, up 3.8%; and clothing, up 3.9%.
The level of sales in the auto sector was unchanged from the previous month, while transactions involving furniture and home furnishings dropped 2.4%, which the data agency partly attributed to supply-chain bottlenecks.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-22-21 0917ET
