Canadian retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in December to $35.3 billion, mostly offsetting a decline in November.

In volume terms, sales increased 0.6 per cent, Statistics Canada said Friday.

A cashier works in a discount supermarket in 2008. Food and beverage sales were one of the few sectors to post a decline in retail sales in December. (Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

Retail sales have been largely trending upward since troughing in early 2009.

The gains were broad-based, with five of eight retail sectors posting gains in December.

The largest contributor to the overall increase was a 3.3 per cent rise in sales at general merchandisers, which include department stores.

This increase offset the decline observed in November, as that month's unseasonably warm weather caused some consumers to postpone purchases of clothing and footwear until December, the agency said.

Clothing and accessories stores saw their sales increase 2.1 per cent in December. Within the sector, sales rose 5.2 per cent at shoe, clothing-accessory, and jewelery stores and 1.2 per cent at clothing stores.

Sales in the automotive sector rose 0.9 per cent in December.

Sales at furniture, home furnishings and electronic stores were up 0.5. per cent.

With a 1.3 per cent decline, food and beverage stores lagged. Sales at supermarkets were down 1.5 per cent, more than offsetting the increase observed in November. Sales at beer, wine and liquor stores were down by 1.4 per cent — the third consecutive month following strong growth in the first nine months of the year.

Regionally, retail sales were mixed, rising in only six provinces in December.

The largest contributor to the increase was Alberta, where sales rose 1.8 per cent, its strongest gain since November 2007.

Retailers in Quebec reported a 0.7 per cent sales increase after two months of little change. This resumes an upward trend observed since the beginning of 2009.

With a two per cent gain, New Brunswick was the only Atlantic province to report a sales increase in December. That increase almost offset the declines of the previous two months.