OTTAWA, June 19 (Reuters) - Canada's retail sales grew by 0.5% in April from March to C$73.03 billion ($51.6 billion), slightly missing expectations, led primarily by sales at gasoline stations and fuel vendors, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
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.
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Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales for April to grow by 0.6%.
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In volume terms, retail sales were unchanged in April.
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Sales at gasoline stations and fuel vendors largely increased due to higher fuel prices, leading to a 5.1% increase. In volume terms, however, sales of this category were only up by 0.8% in April.
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Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers, were down 0.7% in April. It was the second consecutive month of decline.
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The decrease in core sales was led by lower sales at food and beverage retailers, dropping 2.0%, and general merchandise retailers, where sales slipped 1.7%.
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Sales of motor vehicles and sales at vehicle parts dealers, a category which accounts for over a quarter of total retail sales, grew by 1.7%, data showed.
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Retail sales likely increased by 1% in May, an advance indicator from StatsCan noted.
($1 = 1.4151 Canadian dollars)
Reporting by Promit Mukherjee and Dale Smith; Editing by Toby Chopra
Source: Reuters