Canada’s Retail gasoline sales rose in December
2022.12.21 09:27
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Canada’s Retail gasoline sales rose in December
Budrigannews.com – According to data released on Tuesday, Canadian retail sales increased by 1.4% in October compared to September. However, an estimate for November indicates a monthly decline of 0.5 percent heading into the Christmas shopping season and following seven interest rate increases this year.
Retail sales increased by the most in five months in October, but it was less than analysts’ forecast of 1.5%. According to Statistics Canada, the decrease in September was revised down one decimal point to 0.6% from the 0.5% that had been previously reported.
According to Statistics Canada, gasoline station and food and beverage price increases were the primary drivers of October sales. In volume terms, retail deals were level.
In a note, BMO Capital Markets economist Shelly Kaushik stated, “Retail sales posted a solid increase in October, though the gain came from higher prices, particularly at gasoline stations.”
According to Kaushik, “looking ahead, a negative flash estimate for November points to continued weakness as consumers struggle with reduced purchasing power in the face of high inflation.”
To contain inflation, which stood at 6.9% in October, the Bank of Canada has increased rates at a record rate of 400 basis points in nine months to 4.25 percent, a level not seen since January 2008. That is more than three times the target of 2% set by the central bank.
Tiff Macklem, the governor of the bank, has stated that in the future, setting the policy rate will be more dependent on data. Consumer prices are expected to be released on Wednesday, and gross domestic product figures are expected to be released on Friday.
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Royce Mendes, head of macro strategy at Desjardins Group, wrote in a note, “Those latest retail data are consistent with the Bank of Canada pausing its hiking cycle in January.” Nevertheless, the path of the future will be heavily influenced by the CPI data of tomorrow.”
