Building Material Sector Leads Retail Sales Decline

Retail sales decreased 0.1 per cent to $61.8 billion in November versus October, with sales down in six of 11 subsectors, representing 47.4 per cent of retail trade, says Statistics Canada. The decrease was led by lower sales at food and beverage stores (-1.6 per cent) and building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (-3.8 per cent). This is the subsector’s largest decrease in seven months, coinciding with deteriorating housing market conditions. Year-over-year, building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers sales decreased 2.4 per cent, with sales of $3.9 billion compared to sales of $4 billion in November 2021. Overall retail sales decreased in eight provinces in November, led by lower sales in Quebec (-0.5 per cent). On an unadjusted basis, retail eCommerce sales were down 3.5 per cent year over year to $4.4 billion in November, accounting for 6.5 per cent of total retail trade. The share of eCommerce sales out of total retail sales fell 0.6 percentage points compared with November 2021.