Canada retail sales rise 0.6% in June, StatsCan says

By Promit Mukherjee

OTTAWA, August ‌21 (Reuters) - Canada's retail ​sales ​rose 0.6% in June, beating an average analyst expectation of 0.4%, as sales jumped at clothing and general merchandise stores, data ‌showed on Friday.

Retail sales, which include purchases of cars, furniture, food ⁠and gasoline, are considered an early indicator of gross domestic product growth and account for ‌about 40% of consumer spending.

• ‌Sales rose to C$74.28 billion ($54.08 billion) in June from C$73.84 billion in the prior month, Statistics Canada said.

• However sales are likely to decrease ​by 0.8% in July, the federal statistics agency said in an advance estimate.

• June sales increased across seven out of nine subsectors. In ⁠volume terms, retail sales increased 1.5% in June.

• The biggest increases were recorded in the clothing, ​clothing accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers category, which posted a jump of 3.1%, although its sales numbers ​contributed only 5.6% to the overall sales ‌figure.

• Among big-ticket items, sales at general merchandise retailers, which account for more than 15% of total retail sales, ⁠surged by 2.7%, StatsCan said.

• Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, the largest subsector and accounting for roughly 27% of retail sales, rose 1%, following a 0.7% ⁠increase in May. This was its third consecutive monthly increase.

• Purchases at food and ​beverage retailers, the second-biggest category, dropped 0.4% as consumers shopped less at supermarket and grocery retailers, data showed.

• The largest decrease was observed at gasoline stations and fuel vendors (-4.1%), ‌which posted their first decline in four months, primarily due to lower gasoline prices.

• "Through the monthly volatility we ‌still see a gradual improvement in consumer spending, which should continue into next year, ⁠supported by expanded household benefits ‌and an improving labor market," ​said Andrew Grantham, senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets.

($1 = 1.3736 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee and Dale Smith; Editing by ‌David Holmes)

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