Canadian retail sales dip in December

(Feb. 21, 2012) -- Canadian retail sales slipped 0.2 percent in December 2011, marking the first decline in five months and following 0.4 percent and 0.8 percent gains in November and October, respectively. "Despite a flat reading in December, strong growth in previous months still leaves the volume of retail sales up an annualized 5.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 as a whole," said Janzen.