Paul Martin's Business Update - April 2nd, 2014

Paul Martin's Business Update - April 2nd, 2014

There’s a trifecta of indictors that provide some insight into the behaviors of consumers – which translates into a measure of consumer confidence. These include retail sales activity which look at day-to-day buying activity, purchases of vehicles and the like which provide a view of the way consumers are viewing big ticket buying and then there’s spending at bars and restaurants. This gives us a snapshot of discretionary spending.

That last one – spending in hospitality and food outlets for the month of January – has just been released and it offers a picture of a fairly robust segment of the economy.

Sales for the month were up more than two per cent over December and three per cent higher than the same month a year ago. That is in the middle of the pack nationally and may be a reflection of the weather we endured that month…people were looking to treat themselves a bit.

But it’s also interesting to see that sales in Saskatchewan exceeded Manitoba’s total. And given that their population is about 10 per cent higher, it suggests the Saskatchewan market place is holding up well.

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