08:49 AM EST, 02/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canadian retail sales received a larger-than-expected boost from the start of the temporary GST holiday in December but failed to build further on that in January, said CIBC.

Friday's 2.5% month-over-month headline increase in sales was well above the 1.6% consensus expectation and, excluding autos, sales rose by an even stronger 2.7%, noted the bank.

Gains were broad-based and particularly strong for gasoline stations and food & beverage stores, pointed out CIBC.

In volume terms, the 2.5% increase matched the headline nominal figure.

For Q4 as a whole sales volumes rose by 1.8% unannualized.

However, it appears that spending momentum didn't carry through until January 2025, which marked a full month of reduced GST, with the preliminary estimate suggesting a 0.4% month-over-month headline decline, stated the bank.

Overall, through the monthly volatility, it does appear that consumer spending was improving before United States tariff uncertainty ramped up, although maybe not quite as strongly as the December figure alone suggests, added CIBC.