Paul Martin's Business Update - October 25th

Paul Martin's Business Update - October 25th

The consumer wave is tapering off a bit.

The key retail sales indicator in this province appears to be adopting a more serene posture these days. After six months of exceptional gains in the first half of the year, the past couple of months have been quieter. The latest figures we have come from August and they are up, roughly equal to the decline we saw in July so the summer was a wash.

But on a year-over-year basis, the figure is still positive – rising about one-and-a-quarter percent over August of last year. That is indeed positive but somewhat more modest than the six or seven percent we were seeing in the first two quarters of 2013.

The latest figure is the weakest in the country, one of the rare times in recent memory that Saskatchewan was tenth among the provinces in any economic indicator. This may a sign that consumers are changing their habits, trimming their spending ever so slightly. But given that wage levels continue to rise there’s still money around….maybe it is being directed to debt retirement instead.

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