Canada: Retail sales rose 0.3% to $50.9 billion in July

"Retail sales rose 0.3% to $50.9 billion in July on higher sales at food and beverage stores and gasoline stations," Statistics Canada reported today. 

Key takeaways from the press release

• Excluding the lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales increased 0.9%.
• Sales were up in 8 of 11 subsectors, representing 54.8% of total retail sales.
• After removing the effects of price changes, retail sales in volume terms decreased 0.1%.