Canada December retail sales up 0.9% on autos; seen down 0.4% in January

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Canadian retail sales grew by 0.9% in December from November at C$67.30 billion ($49.81 billion), led by increases at motor vehicle and parts dealers, as well as general merchandise stores, Statistics Canada said on Thursday. Sales were likely down 0.4% in January, the agency said in a flash estimate.

In December, sales were up in five of nine subsectors, representing 75.3% of retail trade. In volume terms, retail sales increased 0.8%.

(Percent changes) Dec Dec Nov(rev) Nov(prev)

mo/mo yr/yr mo/mo mo/mo

Total +0.9 +2.9 -0.0 -0.2

Excluding autos/parts +0.6 +1.3 -0.4 -0.5

NOTE: All figures are seasonally adjusted. Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast December retail sales to be up 0.8% on the month, and to be up 0.7% excluding autos.

($1=$1.3510 Canadian)

(Reporting by Dale Smith; Keywords: CANADA ECONOMY/RETAIL)