Ottawa, Ontario, March 21, 2006--Canada's retail sales in January surged 1.4 percent from December to a record C$31.8 billion, most likely because of gift card redemptions, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday.
That beat the average forecast of analysts polled by Reuters of an increase of 1.1 percent. The rise follows a revised increase of 0.6 percent in December, up from the original 0.3 percent.
"Sales (were) likely buoyed by gift card redemptions. This is the third year in a row that sales were strong in January ... (the monthly) gain was the strongest in six months," Statscan said in its daily bulletin.
For a second consecutive month, new car dealers were not the sole driver of the rise. Excluding sales by dealers of new, used and recreational vehicles and auto parts, retail sales still grew 1.4 percent in January.
Shoppers increased their spending in all sectors in January, with the exception of the food and beverage sector, which dropped 1.2 percent. Sales increased by at least 3.0 percent in four of the eight sectors.
