Paul Martin's Business Update - January 24th

Paul Martin's Business Update - January 24th

Consumer confidence is showing no sign of change as the retail portion of the provincial economy remains among the strongest in the nation.

New figures from StatsCan examining the performance of retailers in November, the beginning of the critical holiday run, show Saskatchewan consumers dropped nearly $1.6 billion in local shops. That’s up about $15 million from October, significant because November is a shorter month.

It also is more than three percent higher than the same period a year ago suggesting this segment of the market is actually growing even when you discount it for inflation which is less than two per cent. All in all, it compares favorably nationally with only Alberta and BC generating a larger year-over-year jump.

StatsCan also noted it’s the third consecutive monthly increase. In dissecting these figures, the primary read we get on consumer attitudes, we also need to look at population growth. We’re adding a little over one per cent to the population annually so when you incorporate the additional people hitting local stores plus basic inflationary price increases, this segment is not changing much one way or the other.

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