Canada's Retail Sales in August Seen Reversing July's Decline

08:46 AM EDT, 09/24/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian retail sales fell 0.7% monthly to CA$73.7 billion in July, with declines across eight of nine subsectors, led by general merchandise retailers, according to the country's statistical agency on Thursday. July's decline was roughly in line with a 0.8% monthly consensus drop provided in a Bloomberg survey. Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline stations and fuel vendors and motor vehicle and parts dealers, were down 0.7% monthly in July, Statistics Canada wrote. Volumes declined 1.1% on the month. Motor vehicle and parts sales dropped 0.8% monthly, their first decline in four months, led by a 1.3% drop at new car dealers, partly offset by a 2.9% increase at used car dealers, added StatsCan. Statistics Canada's advance estimate points to a 1.3% monthly rise in retail sales in August, though the preliminary figure is subject to revision and is based on a 57.8% response rate versus an average final rate of 87.1% over the past year, said the Ottawa-based agency.