OTTAWA — Total Canadian retail sales were up 3.0% in September 2016 versus a year ago, according to the latest real, not seasonally adjusted, numbers from Statistics Canada. While some press releases saw this as an improvement, according to retail analyst Ed Strapagiel, “it’s really not worth getting too excited about.”
However, the building material and garden equipment-supplies sub-sector continues to perform well, remaining steady throughout 2016. Sales were up 7.0% for the latest quarter, and up 7.2% year over year.
