Despite a 0.3% average increase in Canadian retail sales in March, B.C.'s total declined for a third straight month.
According to seasonally adjusted figures released by Statistics Canada Friday, B.C. retail sales dropped 1.4% in March. The decrease followed a 1.3% decline in February.
Total B.C. sales fell to $4.27 billion from $4.32 billion in February and $4.38 billion in January. Since the beginning of the year, retail sales in B.C. have fallen 2.5%, much more than the national average of 0.5% for the first three months of the year.
Western Canadians are spending far less than their counterparts in other provinces. After Alberta, B.C. has seen the second largest decline in retail sales for the past year, and the decrease appears to be accelerating. The province's year-over-year retail sales decline was 9.1% in February and grew to 11.3% in March.
Most other provinces, except Manitoba, recorded higher sales in March. They were helped by sales increases in new cars (3.6%), groceries (0.9%), beer and wine (1.5%) and general merchandise (0.1%).
Sectors seeing declines included used and recreational vehicle sales (-2.6%), home electronics and appliance stores (-1.4%), building and outdoor supply stores (-0.6%) and clothing and accessory stores (-0.5%).