British Columbia had one of Canada’s biggest year-over-year spending increases in 2016’s fourth quarter, according to Moneris data released January 19, which tracks debit- and credit-card purchases.
Consumer spending in the province increased 5.9% in Q4 compared with the same period last year. This is more than 1 1/2 percentage points higher than the national average of 4.2%. B.C. was in second place in terms of increases, after Ontario, where spending increased 6.2%. Almost all provinces saw increases in the quarter, with the exceptions of Alberta (down 2%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (down 1.7%).
Across Canada in 2016, spending increased 6.2% in Q1 2016, 5.5% in Q2 and 4.8% in Q3, showing that growth slowed throughout the year.
“We observed increases in consumer spending throughout every quarter of 2016, but that growth declined slowly and steadily over the course of the year,” said Moneris president and CEO Angela Brown.
“As we enter 2017, we expect a trend of modest growth to continue as Canadian policy-makers react to a changing global landscape and broader challenges present in the Canadian economy.”
The slowdown in consumer spending was consistent with Statistics Canada data released last month that showed the Canadian economy shrank in October.
https://www.biv.com/article/2016/12/statscan-serves-dud-wrap-2016-canadian-economy-shr/
Black Friday was the biggest shopping day of 2016, and sales on that day increased 5.9% compared with the previous year. Boxing Day spending dropped 4.6% year-over-year. Moneris said this swing is indicative of changing holiday shopping patterns and more stores offering Black Friday deals.
The biggest increase in spending was in fast food, up 11.2%. This was followed by taxis and limos, up 9.5%, and bakeries, up 8.7%.
@EmmaHampelBIV
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