Date: July 22, 2010
Canadian Retail Sales, May 2010 Release
Source: Statistics Canada
Link to Release: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100722/dq100722a-eng.htm
Summary: In May, Canadian retail sales in dollar terms fell by 0.2 per cent compared to April – the second straight monthly decline. Transactions fell in six of the eleven retail subsectors. The largest decline came from the housing related building materials and garden equipment segment, with sales falling by four per cent. Sales were up in other housing-related categories, with furniture sales climbing 0.8 per cent. Sales fell on a month-over-month basis in five provinces, but edged up 0.1 per cent in Ontario. Compared to May 2009, sales were up 5.5 per cent, with year-over-year advances in 10 of 11 major retail categories.
Analysis: Retail sales remain on the upward trend, the two recent monthly declines notwithstanding. These declines represented, at least in part, a balancing out from the spike in retail sales experienced in March. With this said, however, the rate of year-over-year growth in retail sales will moderate over the next year. This moderation will play a large role in the return to sustainable rates of growth for the Canadian economy. For the better part of the last year, Canadian gross domestic product (GDP) was growing at rates well-above the expected long-term norm. A lot of this growth was based on the rapid recovery of the housing market and the related spin-off expenditures that accrued to the retail sector. As the growth in home sales balances out over the next year and moves more in line with population growth, the growth in retail sales will moderate as well.QJPMFPC8PYBD
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board
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