Canada June prelim retail sales +4.4% vs -3.2% prior

• May retail sales -2.1% vs -3.0% expected
• April was -5.7%
• May retail sales ex autos -2.0% vs -2.2% expected
• Sales ex autos and gas -2.4% vs -7.6% prior
• Sales down in May in 8 of 11 subsectors

April and May were expected to be soft months due to lockdown measures but the May reading was a tad stronger than expected, and better than the -3.2% preliminary estimate from Statistics Canada. The rebound in June coincides with fewer lockdown measures and suggests Canadians were eager to spend.