Retail sales fell 2.4% in November to $34.9 billion, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

It was the largest monthly decline since January 1998.

StatsCan said the November decline was fuelled largely by lower sales at gasoline stations and a drop in unit sales at new car dealers. Excluding the automotive sector – which includes new, used and recreational vehicle and parts dealers as well as gasoline stations – retail sales were flat.

Retail sales by volume fell 0.6%.

The agency said the value of November sales was pulled down considerably by a 7.1% decline in automotive sector sales.

A 14.9% sales drop at gasoline stations, the largest monthly decline since September 2006, was all price-induced as gasoline prices at the pump fell considerably from October.

StatsCan said the lower unit sales of new motor vehicles were behind a 3.4% sales decline at new car dealers in November.

Aside from the automotive sector, four other retail sectors registered lower sales while the remaining three reported increases.

The miscellaneous retailers sector endured the second-largest decline in November — a 0.7% slip — while sales in general merchandise stores decreased 0.5%, their second drop in nine months.

The largest increases were in the pharmacies and personal-care stores sector, and the food-and-beverage stores sector, where sales rose by 0.5% in each sector.

Lower gasoline prices and a decline in sales at new car dealers led to a drop in sales in all provinces in November. With the exception of Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan, the decline in retail sales was at least 1%.

Separately, StatsCan reported that he composite index fell 0.6% in December, matching November’s drop after three months of accelerating declines.

The losses remained concentrated in the stock market and housing. StatsCan said the four components that rose were evenly balanced with the four that decreased, while two were unchanged.

The stock market and the housing index posted losses of 7.9% and 4.5%, respectively.

Consumer spending remained resilient, with increases for both furniture and appliances and other durable goods.

However, StatsCan said preliminary data point to sharply lower auto sales in December.

New manufacturing orders were buoyed by continued strength for aerospace.

The outlook for export demand remained bleak, as the U.S. leading indicator fell 0.6%, the largest of 16 straight declines.

IE