Retail sales rose slightly in B.C. in September but lagged the national average, which was driven largely by a phenomenal increase in Prairie provinces, according to Statistics Canada data released yesterday.
Sales nationwide rose 1.8% in September, compared with the same month in 2011, thanks largely to a 8.5% hike in sales in Alberta and a 6.4% spike in Saskatchewan.
British Columbians spent $5.09 billion at retail stores in September. That was up $40 million from the same month in 2011 and $17 million from August.
Canada-wide, retail spending hit $39.137 billion, up from $38.444 billion in 2011.
Specialty food stores, with a 5.6% bump in spending, had the most robust increase of all subsectors that the nation’s number-cruncher broke out.
Perhaps the most intriguing pair of figures in the data was that used car dealers faced the biggest decline of all sectors with Canadians spending 8.3% less in 2012 than they did in 2011. New car dealers, however, were the second best performing sector, enjoying a 4.9% hike in sales year-over-year in September.
