Canadian retail trade rose by a greater-than-expected 0.6 percent in October, propelled by a 5.5 percent gain in new car sales, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
Excluding the automotive sector, retail sales fell by 0.3 percent. "Still, consumer spending at non-auto retailers remained robust, as October represented only the second decline since the start of the year," the agency said.
Sales in the automotive sector rose by 2.1 percent, smaller than the 5.5 percent jump in new car sales because of declines in sales of used cars, parts and gasoline.
Retail sales declined by a revised 1.0 percent (revised from 0.9 percent) in September and 0.4 percent in August, although they were up 1.5 percent in July. July sales had set a high benchmark because of employee pricing discounts for new cars.
A Reuters survey of analysts had, on average, forecast a gain of only 0.2 percent in October's retail sales and a 0.4 percent decline in sales excluding the auto sector. All the figures are adjusted for seasonal factors.