Investing.com - Core retail sales in Canada rose less-than-expected in May, while total retail sales figures topped forecasts, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, Statistics Canada said core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, eased up by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May, below expectations for a 0.3% increase. Core sales rose by 0.8% in April, whose figure was revised up from a previously reported gain of 0.7%.
Total retail sales increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in May, beating forecasts for a 0.6% gain, after rising by 1.3% in April.
Gains were reported in 7 of 11 subsectors, representing 56% of retail trade.
Following the release of the data, the Canadian dollar held on to gains against its U.S. counterpart, with USD/CAD shedding 0.22% to trade at 1.0714.