Driving Retail: Canadian June retail sales growth led by increases in auto, auto parts sales

Ottawa, Ontario — Canadian retail sales grew ever so slightly in June (0.1 percent from the previous month), and that growth was mostly driven by car sales, according to data released by Statistics Canada last Wednesday.

The gain was led by increases at motor vehicle and parts dealers (2.9 percent gain and 2.5 percent gain, respectively), as well as gas stations and fuel vendors, said Stats Can.

When auto and auto parts sales are removed from the equation, retail sales declined by 0.9 percent.