(OTTAWA) Retail sales rose 0.9% to $60.7 billion in April, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.
Posted at 8:55 a.m.
Sales rose in 6 of 11 subsectors, which accounted for 43.3% of retail trade.
Core retail sales rose 1% in April. General merchandise stores posted the largest increase, up 4.2%. Food, which typically accounts for about one-third of total sales, was the top-selling commodity category in this subsector.
The largest decline in retail sales, of 4.3%, was observed at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers. It was the first setback in four months.
Food store receipts also fell, by 0.5%.
Statistics Canada adds that retail sales rose in eight provinces in April, with the strongest increase recorded in Ontario, at 1.2%. In Quebec, sales rose 0.8% in April, after declining 1.7% in March.
Advance estimates of retail sales suggest to Statistics Canada that they rose in the country by 1.6% last month.