Tills in Canada's retail stores continued to sing in April, only louder than the month before.
Figures revealed Thursday morning by Statistics Canada showed that the value of retail sales rose 0.8%, exceeding forecasts for 0.2%. March was revised down slightly to a 0.5% increase from an initially reported gain of 0.7%
Stripping out the effects of price changes, April's sales volumes were less robust, rising just 0.3%.
The building material, garden equipment and supplies sector rose 3.5%, its biggest hike in nearly two years. Increased sales of home appliances and hardware boosted the sector eight months in a row.
Housing sales have chugged along in Canada, with sales and starts rising in the first months of the year, though activity has begun to cool in Toronto since provincial measures put in place in late April.
Sales rose 2.1% at general merchandise stores, which include big-box and department stores. Sales at gasoline stations rose 1.7%, the seventh increase in nine months as Canadians paid higher prices at the pump.
Vehicle and parts dealer sales fell 1% following a solid increase in March as consumers bought fewer new cars. Excluding the auto sector, retail sales rose 1.5%.
