Canada December retail sales down 0.4%; seen up 1.5% in January

OTTAWA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - ‌Canadian retail ​sales ​decreased by 0.4% in December to C$70 billion ($51.14 billion) on a monthly basis, led by ‌a drop in sales at motor vehicle and parts ⁠dealers, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

Sales were down in three ‌of the nine subsectors ‌with the building materials category and furniture, electronics and appliances retailers category also reporting a drop in sales. ​Sales at fuel pumps helped offset some of the fall, StatsCan said.

In volume terms, retail sales ⁠were unchanged in December.

Retail sales, which include domestic sales of cars, furniture, ​food and gasoline, are considered an early indicator of gross domestic product growth and contribute ​around 40% to total consumer ‌spending.

* Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations andfuel vendors and the motor vehicle and ⁠parts dealers, were down0.3% in December. * The motor vehicles and parts dealers' category, whichaccounts for over a fourth of ⁠total retail sales, fell by 1.6%to C$18.71 billion. * The second ​biggest contributor to retail sales is the foodand beverage retailer category. Sales were unchanged in Decemberin this subsector. * Building materials dropped ‌by 4% and the furniture andappliances category registered a 1.7% month-on-month drop. * In January, ‌sales were likely up 1.5% but this number islikely ⁠to be updated next ‌month, the agency ​said in a flashestimate.

($1 = 1.3687 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee and Dale SmithEditing by Nick ‌Zieminski)

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