Canadian Retail Sales

Canadian retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in November, with 5 of 11 retail sub-sectors reporting gains.   In BC, retail sales were up 1.9 per cent on a monthly basis, and were 7 per cent higher compared to one year ago. Through 11 months of the year, retail sales in BC are up a robust 5.8 per cent,  the fastest annual rate of sales growth since 2007. 

With the release of November retail sales data our tracking estimate puts Canadian real GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2014 at 2.1 per cent, which would fall short of the Bank of Canada's most recent forecast of 2.5 per cent for the quarter. Growth in the BC economy is currently tracking at 2.4 per cent for 2014.

Copyright BCREA reprinted with permission