New Car Purchases Lift Canada Retail Sales to Record in May

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Canadian retail sales rose to a record in May led by new automobile dealers, a rare sign of optimism after weeks of evidence the economy shrank through the first half of the year.

Sales increased 1 percent from the prior month to C$43 billion ($33.1 billion), Statistics Canada said Thursday in Ottawa. The rise exceeded all 18 forecasts in a Bloomberg News economist survey with a median of 0.6 percent.