Canadian retailers posted widespread gains in August, led by a second consecutive advance in new car dealer sales, Statistics Canada reported today.

Retail sales advanced 1.0% to $33.4 billion in August, StatsCan said. Except for three months of slight declines, retail sales have been growing strongly so far in 2006.

Despite lower sales at gasoline stations, sales in the automotive sector surged ahead 1.5%, on the strength of sales at new car dealers.

Retail sales in the building and outdoor home supplies sector increased by 1.4% in August. Sales in this sector have been generally on the rise with only one month of decline since November 2005. Furniture, home furnishings and electronic stores’ sales advanced 1.3%, continuing four consecutive months of sales gains.

Only one sector, miscellaneous retailers, experienced a sales decline in August, slipping 0.6%.

Overall, eight provinces and one territory saw sales increase in August. Leading the pack were the Northwest Territories (+5%) and Alberta (+1.8%). For Alberta, this marked its 11th consecutive sales increase and the highest year-over-year increase (+18.1%) for any province since the series began. Retail sales in Alberta have been rising sharply since 2000, as the province benefits from a boom in oil and gas production.

Retailers in Ontario posted their fifth monthly increase in 2006 in August (+1.1%). Sales in British Columbia advanced by 1% in August and have been generally rising after a period of flatness in 2002. Retail sales in Quebec rose 0.8%, mainly due to the automotive sector. According to the New Motor Vehicle Sales Survey, Quebec was responsible for over half of the national increase in motor vehicles sold in August.

Saskatchewan (-0.6%) and New Brunswick (-0.1%) were the only two provinces that posted lower sales.