Sales climbed across all nine subsectors, with gasoline stations leading the monthly gain
Canadian retail sales climbed 1 percent to $73.7bn in May, the fifth consecutive monthly gain.
Statistics Canada reported that sales rose across all nine subsectors, up from $72.95bn in April, or US$52.35bn.
In volume terms, which strip out price changes, sales edged up 0.3 percent, their first gain in three months, the agency said.
The headline figure leaned heavily on prices.
According to Randall Bartlett, deputy chief economist at Desjardins Group, roughly 70 percent of May’s increase reflected higher costs, largely at the pumps.
Receipts at gasoline stations and fuel vendors rose 3.1 percent even as sales volumes in that category fell 2.7 percent, Statistics Canada said.
Core retail sales, which exclude gasoline and motor vehicle and parts dealers, rose 0.9 percent after a 0.7 percent decline in April, led by general merchandise retailers at 1 percent.
Motor vehicle and parts dealers, the largest subsector at about 27 percent of retail sales, gained 0.7 percent, Reuters reported.
Food and beverage retailers added 0.5 percent, with supermarkets and other grocery retailers up 1 percent.
Sales rose in nine of ten provinces.
British Columbia posted the largest dollar gain at 2.1 percent on higher motor vehicle sales, with Vancouver up 3.4 percent, according to Statistics Canada.
Ontario advanced 0.5 percent and Toronto 0.8 percent.
Nova Scotia recorded the only decline, at 0.8 percent.
Online sales bucked the trend, falling 1.5 percent to $5.0bn and accounting for 6.8 percent of total retail trade, down from 7 percent in April, the agency reported.
The flash estimate points to a further 0.4 percent rise in June, though Statistics Canada cautioned the reading will be revised.
Retail sales serve as an early indicator of GDP and account for about 40 percent of consumer spending, Reuters noted.
“Beyond the gas price increase, retail sales were solid in May, and a decent flash for June adds to the encouraging news,” said Shelly Kaushik, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Business Sales Tracker, which draws on Moneris card data, showed nominal spending accelerated to 5.9 percent year over year in May, economist Jasleen Trehan told Wealth Professional.
Real spending rose 2.7 percent and real spending per person 1.9 percent.
The loonie traded 0.1 percent higher at 1.4075 per US dollar as crude jumped 6.2 percent to US$92.40 a barrel following Houthi attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, Reuters reported.
The Financial Post reported Brent crude reached US$100.
