Ottawa, Quebec, January 24-—Retail sales in Canada remained essentially unchanged in November (-0.1%) at $29.5 billion, as declines in half of all retail sectors offset gains in the other half.
Previously, retailers had shown a healthy 1.2% sales jump in October.
Retail sales have generally been increasing since the fall of 2001, except for a period of declines in the last four months of 2003.
Retailers have seen their monthly sales rise nine times in the first 11 months of 2004, pushing cumulative sales up 4.7% compared with the same 11-month period in 2003. This growth rate outperformed the 3.8% year-to-date increase seen in the first 11 months of 2003, but was much weaker than the 6.8% gain in the same 11-month period in 2002.
In constant dollars, retail sales fell 0.4% in November, the first decline in six months. Higher prices at auto dealers and building supplies stores were dampened by lower prices in clothing and computer stores.
Sales in furniture, home furnishings and electronics stores dropped 1.9% in November, after remaining essentially unchanged in October (+0.1%). Previously, robust consumer demand in this sector had led to sizable sales gains in September (+1.4%) and August (+1.2%), following little change in sales levels since early 2004.
