Canada retail sales rose 3.6% mom in March, to CAD 57.6B, above expectation of 2.3% mom. Ex-auto sales rose 4.3% mom, above expectation of 4.0% mom too. Sales increased in 10 of 11 subsectors, representing 79.1% of retail trade. For Q1, sales were up 1.8%, the third quarterly increase.
Advance estimates indciates that retail sales dropped -5.1% mom in April. This unofficial estimate was calculated based on responses received from 46% of companies surveyed.
