OTTAWA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Canadian retail sales decreased by 0.4% in December to C$70 billion ($51.14 billion) on a monthly basis, led by a drop in sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, Statistics Canada said on Friday.
Sales were down in three of the nine subsectors with the building materials category and furniture, electronics and appliances retailers category also reporting a drop in sales. Sales at fuel pumps helped offset some of the fall, StatsCan said.
In volume terms, retail sales were
unchanged in December.
Retail sales, which include domestic sales of cars, furniture, food and gasoline, are considered an early indicator of gross domestic product growth and contribute around 40% to total consumer spending.
* Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations andfuel vendors and the motor vehicle and parts dealers, were down0.3% in December. * The motor vehicles and parts dealers' category, whichaccounts for over a fourth of total retail sales, fell by 1.6%to C$18.71 billion. * The second biggest contributor to retail sales is the foodand beverage retailer category. Sales were unchanged in Decemberin this subsector. * Building materials dropped by 4% and the furniture andappliances category registered a 1.7% month-on-month drop. * In January, sales were likely up 1.5% but this number islikely to be updated next month, the agency said in a flashestimate.($1 = 1.3687 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee and Dale SmithEditing by Nick Zieminski)
