Talk of a stalled economy hasn’t quelled B.C. shoppers’ desire to consume more and more retail goods.
The amount of money laid out by shoppers in this province jumped 5.9% in February compared with one month prior. That increase is almost triple the growth for that of the province in second place – New Brunswick, up 2.2%.
In total, consumers in B.C. spent more than $5.9 billion in the month, compared with just under $5.6 billion in January. Spending was up in most store types.
Over the same period, Canadians spent $42.2 billion, which is 1.7% more than in January after two months of declines.
“Canadian shoppers weren’t going to be shut out for a third month in a row,” said CIBC Economics’ Nick Exarhos. “The 1.7% headline gain was well above expectations for 0.5% increase.” while a 2.0% gain ex-autos was double our own above-consensus 1% call.
Total nationwide growth was driven by the growth in B.C. as well as in Ontario and Quebec. Spending fell in Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I. and Nova Scotia.
All retail sectors Canada-wide saw gains in February. Gasoline station sales went up for the first time since June 2014. The
“Today’s data is likely to save February’s monthly GDP outlook, since the 1.3% volume advance offsets some of the weakness displayed in the manufacturing data released earlier this week,” Exarhos said.
“Still, in terms of averages, real volumes so far in Q1 are beneath what was seen in Q4.”
