Canada February retail sales report results:
- Prior reading was +1.3% (revised to +0.9%)
- Ex-autos +0.6% vs +0.5% exp
- Prior ex-autos +1.0% (revised to +0.5%)
- Full report
The big story is the revisions. Factoring those in, the report is easily weaker-than-expected and USD/CAD has risen to 1.1038 from 1.1025.
Canadian retail sales
The easy excuse is the weather but some of the underlying metrics are solid. Sales excluding gasoline stations and motor vehicles and parts dealers, sales advanced 0.8%.
Signs of trouble in the home construction market are beginning to emerge. Sales in the ‘building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers’ fell -1.4%. It’s the fifth monthly decrease in six months and sales are down 0.9% y/y. Furniture is also weak and that category is highly tied to housing.
