Surprise Retail Sales Gain Signals Canada Consumers Holding Up
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Canadian retail sales had a surprise gain in February with strength in most categories led by motor vehicle dealers, a sign of resilient consumer spending in an economy hobbled by a commodity crash.
Sales increased 0.4 percent to C$44.2 billion ($34.8 billion), Statistics Canada said Friday in Ottawa. None of the 18 economists in a Bloomberg News survey predicted the increase, and the median estimate was a 0.8 percent decline.