Canada’s retailers have never had it better.
Consumers continued their free-spending ways in April, pushing retail sales to a 0.8% gain from the prior month and bringing the total increase since the beginning of the year to 3.6%, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. That matches the best start to a year in data back to 1991.
The figures highlight how much consumers - buoyed by strong employment growth - have powered the nation’s economy out of an oil crash, generating growth that is among the highest in the developed world. At the same time, that’s raising concern the increases may not be sustainable, with much of the spending fuelled by the wealth effects from a soaring real estate market.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News anticipated a 0.3% gain, the median forecast.
Thursday’s data should bolster confidence in economist projections that the economy continued to expand at a pace of about 2% in the second quarter, after a 3.7% annualised gain in the first quarter.
Other Key Points
The gain in retail sales in April was powered by the country’s two biggest provinces: Quebec (1.6%) and Ontario (1%).
Excluding car and parts dealers, retail sales were up 1.5% in April and has gained 4% since the start of the year. That’s the best start on record.
The gains so far this year have been driven by actual new sales rather than price increases. Volume sales were up 0.3% in April and the 3.3% year-to-date gain is also a record start.
The year-to-date increase in total retail sales matches a record start also recorded in 1999 and again in 2006.
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
