Statistics Canada has launched a new Retail Services Price Index (RSPI), a tool used to measure movements in the price of retail services.
According to data released Wednesday, the RSPI was up 0.4% in the first quarter of 2010, marking the eighth-consecutive quarterly advance.
The index defines the price of a retail service as a margin price, which is the difference between the average purchase price and the average selling price of the retail product being measured.
In the first quarter of 2010, miscellaneous store retailers accounted for the largest increase in retail margins.
The margin for those retailers increased 2.7% in the first quarter of 2010 when compared with the fourth quarter of 2009, and 7.6% year-over-year.
The national statistical agency said the gain was primarily due to a 3.9% margin advance among office supply retailers and stationery and gifts stores.
It also noted a 2.1% increase among electronics and appliance store retailers in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the previous quarter.
But the index also uses data to weigh the relative importance of each retail sector.
Food and beverage, gas stations and general merchandise stores are ranked the most important among the different indices.
In the first quarter of 2010, food and beverage stores saw a 0.1% decline in their margins while gas stations saw a 0.2% increase compared with the fourth quarter of 2009.
Statistics Canada said the index could be joined with other business service indexes to provide better estimates for output, productivity and inflation.