Canadian retail sales unexpectedly fell in April, dropping for the first time in four months, on fewer purchases of automobiles.

Sales declined 0.8 percent to C$33.5 billion ($29.8 billion), Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Economists expected a 0.1 percent increase in April, based on the median of 21 estimates.

The report adds to evidence the world’s eighth-largest economy continued to shrink in the second quarter in the face of a global slump that has sapped orders for Canada’s lumber, automobiles and metals. Canada posted an unexpected trade deficit in April as exports fell, Statistics Canada said June 10. Read more…