Canadian Retail Sales edge up in February, surpass forecasts.

Canadian Retail Sales edged up in February according to the monthly report released by Statistics Canada today.  Retails sales increased by 0.2 percent to C$33.7 billion in February after increasing by 1.8 percent in January.  Retail sales had made significant declines at the end of 2008 with a fall of 2.7 percent in November and a 5.0 percent decline in December. Today’s sales data surpassed market forecasts that were expecting sales to decrease by 0.3 percent for the month.

Core retail sales, excluding automobile sales, rose by 0.6 percent in February following a revised gain of 1.4 percent in January. The rise in core sales also surpassed economic forecasts expecting a 0.2 percent increase in February.

Contributing to the gain in the retail sales numbers was an increase in building & outdoor home supplies stores by 3.0 percent. Sales at gasoline stations increased for the second straight month in February by 1.7 percent. Sales in pharmacies & personal care stores and food & beverages stores increased for the month with gains of 0.3 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Negative contributors to the retail sales data were sales at furniture, home furnishings & electronic stores which fell by 1.9 percent and automotive sales which decreased by 0.3 percent.