Retail sales in Western Canada helped temper significant losses in Eastern Canada, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.
B.C. sales rose 1.3% in April to $4.35 billion from $4.29 billion in March, while sales in Alberta rose 0.6% in the same period. Both increases break a string of sales declines in five of the past seven months and mitigated some of the declines in six other provinces.
Declines in Quebec (-2.5%) and Ontario (-1.1%) had the biggest impact on sales at the national level, which fell 0.8% overall to $33.5 billion.
Year over year, however, Western Canadian retail sales are still substantially lower, down 10.5% in Alberta and 9.2% in B.C.
Across Canada, sales declined in five of eight sectors in April. The decrease was led by a 1.9% decline in the automotive sector. Food and beverage sales also fell 1%, their first decline in three months. According to the Consumer Price Index, the drop was due in part to declines in the price of food, the sector's first decrease in more than a year. Sales in supermarkets were down 0.7%, while beer, wine and liquor stores registered their first monthly decline of the year at 1.7%.
But not all sectors suffered in April.
General merchandise stores, the third largest retail sales sector, rose 0.5% to $4.36 billion from $4.34 billion in March. Their sales have increased steadily since the beginning of the year.
Sales at building and home supply stores were also up 0.3% in May, which suggests Canadians are slowly taking advantage of the federal government's home renovation tax credit.