Higher gasoline prices in June pushed overall retail sales across the country up by 0.5% for the month to $36 billion, Statistics Canada said today.

The figure matched economists’ expectations.

StatsCan said the June increase was mainly due to a 4.2% hike from May in sales at gasoline stations. After factoring out price fluctuations for all goods and services, retail sales in constant dollars decreased by 0.4%.

Sales in the clothing and accessories sector grew by 3.5% month-over-month, while food and beverage sales were up 1.3%.

Faltering truck sales led to a 3.1% drop in retail purchases at new car dealerships in June, marking the fifth straight month of declines.

Excluding auto purchases, retail sales rose by 1.4% nationwide in June.

Separately, StasCan reported that two of 10 components fell as the composite leading index was unchanged for a second straight month in July.

Declines in housing and the average workweek in manufacturing were large enough to offset small increases in the 7 components that rose, StatsCan said.

The housing index decreased by 2.9%, its largest decline since June 2002, largely due to a drop in housing starts.

Manufacturing indicators were mixed: New orders rebounded 1.3% from a sharp decline but the average workweek in manufacturing fell 0.5%.

The United States leading indicator rose 0.1% in July, its first increase in 11 months.

Gross domestic product growth turned up in the second quarter, led by exports and business investment.