For the first time in four long months, retail sales across Canada declined in November, mainly on the back of fewer car sales and as an unusually mild winter, which led to lower sale of winter clothing items.

As compared to October, sales in November declined by 0.3% to C$35.2 Billion ($33.4 Billion), as has been confirmed by official figures shared by Statistics Canada. Expectations were that sales would fall by 0.2%.

A fall of 3.6% was recorded by sales at accessories and clothing stores, which has been the highest decline recorded since September 2002. Sales at general merchandise stores, on the other hand, slipped by 2.8%.

"A contributing factor was lower winter clothing sales as a result of unseasonably warm weather throughout most of Canada", Statistics Canada said.

New car sales decline by 2.2% in November, which has come after 7 consecutive months of hikes.