Retail sales came in at $7.7 billion, in August, says Statistics Canada. That’s an increase of 3.6% from August 2002 for the group of large retailers.

Growth rates varied among the major groups. At the two extremes were strong growth in home furnishing and electronic sales, and a slight decline in clothing, footwear and accessory sales.

In the U.S., investors have been greeted by some good news bout the housing market this morning. Home-building activity rebounded in September to its second-highest level this year, says the U.S. Commerce Department.

Housing starts rose 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted 1.888 million annual rate. This follows a revised drop of 3.4% in August to a 1.826 million rate. On the downside, building permits, an indicator of future building activity, have dropped 2.2% to a 1.860 million annual rate.