OTTAWA – Despite any last-minute Christmas shopping, retail sales edged down 0.2 percent in December to $37.3 billion.

This slight decline comes on the heels of six consecutive months of gains, including a notable boost in November, reports Stats Canada.

Results were mixed with losses reported in 5 of 11 subsectors, representing 66 percent of total retail sales.

The largest decrease was registered by motor vehicle and parts dealers, where sales fell 2.8 percent, ending a series of seven straight monthly increases.

Lower sales at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (-1.4%) did not offset the increase in November.
The dip would have been worse if not for a large increase at gasoline stations (+7.6%), mainly reflecting higher prices at the pump.

The most popular holiday purchase items — furniture and home furnishings (1.9%) clothing and accessories (1%) and electronics and appliance (0.6%) had modestly higher sales in December.