Canadian retail
sales rose 1 per cent in January, with gains reported in 7 out of 11 retail
subsectors. Adjusting for
inflation, retail sales were roughly flat. With today's retail sales release,
we have a full month of data for our quarterly Canadian GDP tracking estimate.
While there isn't much we can tell from just one month, there are signs that
real GDP growth has picked up from the sub-1 per cent level that prevailed in
the second half of last year. That said, growth is still likely to come in at
modest 1 to 1.5 per cent in the first quarter.
Retail sales in BC rose 1 per cent over December but were unchanged
year-over-year. We anticipate that, in spite of a stronger labour market, BC
retail sales will continue to grow well below trend at between 3 and 4 per cent
in 2013. This would mark the third consecutive year of weak sales growth.
Copyright BCREA -reprinted with permission
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