Canada January retail sales +1.1% vs +1.5% expected

• Prior was -0.4%
• Ex autos +0.8% vs +1.2% expected
• Prior ex autos +0.1% (revised to 0.0%)
• Advance February sales +0.9%
• Sales hit $70.7 billion in January
• Sales ex autos and gas +0.9%

The advance reading tends to be the better signal in this report and the number for February is strong. As for January, vehicles rose 2.0% led by new car dealers. In terms of the core, general merchandise retailers (+3.0%) rose for a fourth month while food and beverage retailers fell 0.6%. Ecommerce sales rose 1.5%.