The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that higher motor vehicle sales helped push Canadian retail sales for October up to $66.9-billion. The Post's Naimul Karim writes that higher sales of motor vehicles helped push Canadian retail sales for October up by 0.7 per cent on a monthly basis to $66.9-billion, but economists say the outlook does not look as positive. Despite the growth rate in Statistics Canada's metric that tracks consumer demand for finished goods, the figure was slightly lower than the 0.8 per cent expected by most economists. Overall sales were up in seven of the nine industries assessed by the agency, including furniture and appliances, food and beverage, general merchandise, health and personal care, and clothing retailers. In terms of volume, sales rose by 1.4 per cent, which is the largest monthly increase since December, 2022. "Canadian consumers have been in the festive spirit this holiday season, having broadened their spending across several categories," Maria Solovieva, an economist at Toronto-dominion Bank, said in a note to clients on Thursday. "Looking ahead, auto sales are tracking strong and our own card spending estimates point to a higher reading in November."