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Retail sales fell 5.7 per cent in April amid pandemic’s third wave

Retail sales in volume terms fell 5.6 per cent in April
The Canadian Press
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A person is silhouetted while walking through a deserted Metropolis at Metrotown shopping mall, where only a few stores remain open due to COVID-19, in Burnaby, B.C., Sunday, April 12, 2020. Statistics Canada says retail sales in April posted their largest drop since April last year as governments moved to deal with the third wave of the pandemic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says retail sales in April posted their largest drop since April last year at the start of the pandemic as governments moved to deal with its third wave.

The agency says retail sales fell 5.7 per cent to $54.8 billion in April.

Statistics Canada says the drop in sales was concentrated in retailers deemed “non-essential” as sales fell in nine of 11 subsectors.

Core retail sales — which exclude gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers — fell 7.6 per cent.

Sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores plunged 28.6 per cent in April, while general merchandise stores dropped 8.1 per cent.

Retail sales in volume terms fell 5.6 per cent in April.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2021.