Canada retail sales dropped -5.7% mom to CAD 54.8B in April, worse than expectation of -5.1% mom. That’s the largest decline since April 2020, due to the third wave of pandemic. Ex-auto sales dropped -7.2% mom, versus expectation of -4.4% mom.
Largest declines were observed in clothing and clothing accessories stores (-28.6%) and general merchandise stores (-8.1%). Sales decreased in 9 of 11 subsectors, representing 74.2% of retail trade.
Statistics Canada’s advance estimate suggests that sales would have declined further by -3.2% in May.
