Investing.com - Retail sales in Canada showed a larger-than-expected increase in August, although the core reading was weaker than forecast, casting a mixed picture over Canadian consumer strength, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, Statistics Canada said that Canadian, retail sales increased by 0.4% in August, compared to forecasts for a 0.1% gain and after a 0.1% advance in the prior month.
Core retail sales, excluding automobiles, rose by 0.2% in August, after a 0.4% advance in the preceding month that was revised down from an initial 0.7% increase.
Analysts had expected Canadian core retail sales to increase by just 0.4% in August.
After the report, which was released simultaneously with Canadian inflation data, USD/CAD traded at 1.2303, compared to 1.2261 prior to the release.