Statistics Canada: Strong January sales, not enough for clothing

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Mar 23, 2017

Canadian retail sales rose 2.2 percent to $46 billion in January, but it was still not enough to offset the decline in December for clothing sales.
 
The rise in Canadian retail sales was primarily due to higher sales in four of the seven subsectors, though sales were up in 10 of the 11 subsectors in January, representing 98 percent of retail trade. The rise follows a strong end to 2016.
 

In the clothing and clothing accessories sector, store sales increased 1.8 percent in January, down 5.2 percent from the same period last year. Still, higher sales were reported at all store types within the subsector including jewellery, luggage and leather goods stores, which rebounded from a 13.9 percent decline in December to a 17.2 percent increase.
 
Among the Canadian provinces, retail sales were up in every province in January. Ontario reported the largest increase in dollar terms.

Among online sales, on an unadjusted basis, retail e-commerce sales were $1 billion in January. Online sales accounting for 2.7 percent of total retail trade. On a year-over-year basis, retail e-commerce has increased 17.2 percent.