Shomporko Desk:-Canadian retailers bounced back from COVID-19 out of a major path in May, with sales up nearly $42 billion or 18.7 per cent from April’s record low.
Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that sales in 10 of the 11 sub-sectors the data agency tracks were higher during the month, as massive parts of the economy began to revive subsequent to being totally closed in March and April because of the pandemic.
The only type of store that didn’t see sales increase in May was grocery stores since the business was blasting in that industry since the beginning of the pandemic. Grocery store sales slipped two per cent from April’s level. Every other type of store saw higher sales.
sales of vehicles and vehicle parts expanded without precedent for a quarter of a year, checking in with a 66 per cent expansion in sales during the month.
Other stores fared even better, such as clothing stores (up 92 per cent) sporting goods, hobby, books and music (up 101 per cent) and furniture and home furnishings (up 58.6 per cent). Sales at gas stations were also 17 per cent higher than in April.
Sales were also up in every province, despite much of Canada’s most populous province remaining closed through a good part of the month.
Quebec, Manitoba and the Maritime provinces led the way with higher-than-average increases, while Ontario was the laggard at 14.2 per cent, likely because the province was slower to reopen than most others.
While May’s surge was encouraging, it was not in fact as big as the 20 per cent bounce-back that economists were expecting. Preliminary data suggest an even bigger rebound is in the pipeline for June, as figures indicate sales were up by another 24.5 per cent, Statistics Canada said.
“Retail sales are rebounding strongly boosted by pent-up demand and as government income support measures provide a lift to household spending,” Bank of Montreal economist Benjamin Reitzes said. “While it looks as though retail activity returned close to pre-COVID levels in June, expect the broader economy to experience a longer, more drawn-out recovery as the pandemic continues to weigh on a number of sectors.”
Photo credit: Cole Burston/Bloomberg
News source: CBC News
