OTTAWA, Dec 20 Reuters Canada39;s retail sales in October were marginally lower than expected as a jump in new car sales offset consumers39; reduced purchases at supermarkets, grocery stores and wine shops, data showed on Friday.

Retail sales, which comprise motor vehicles, clothing, furniture, food and beverages and others, grew by 0.6 in October, Statistics Canada said, adding that sales rose in five of nine subsectors.

November39;s retail numbers, based on surveys of only half of the respondents for a preliminary estimate, showed sales were likely flat, Statscan said.

Retail sales are considered an early indicator of Gross Domestic Product growth and contribute almost 40 to total consumer spending, which was primarily responsible for keeping Canada39;s economy growing in the third quarter.

Canada39;s economy grew at an annualized rate of just 1 in the third quarter, less than Bank of Canada39;s prediction, and early indicators have shown GDP in the fourth quarter is also likely to fall below the central bank39;s 2 expectation.

The October GDP numbers will be released next week.

Analysts had forecast 0.7 growth in sales for October and had estimated sales excluding automotive and parts to be at 0.5.

Excluding the automotive subsector, which accounts for over a quarter of the total retail trade, sales rose only 0.1.

The marginal increase in October retail sales took them to C67.58 billion 46.97 billion in value, but they were unchanged in volume terms….