Feb 21 (Reuters) - Canadian retail sales grew by 2.5% in December from November at C$69.59 billion ($49.05 billion), led by increased sales at food and beverage retailers, as well as motor vehicle and parts dealers, Statistics Canada said on Friday. Sales were likely down 0.4% in January, the agency said in a flash estimate.

In December, sales were up in all nine subsectors. In volume terms, retail sales increased 2.5%.

(Percent changes) Dec Dec Nov(rev) Nov(prev)

mo/mo yr/yr mo/mo mo/mo

Total +2.5 +3.9 +0.2 0.0

Excluding autos/parts +2.7 +2.6 -0.7 -0.7

NOTE: All figures are seasonally adjusted. Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast December retail sales to be up 1.6% on the month, and to be up 1.8% excluding autos.

($1=$1.4189 Canadian)

Keywords: CANADA ECONOMY/RETAIL

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https://www.reuters.com/markets/canada-december-retail-sales-up-25-food-autos-seen-down-04-january-2025-02-21/