B.C. retail sales rebounded in January from a sluggish December but were virtually unchanged from a year ago, Statistics Canada revealed March 21.
The province’s retail sales in January were $5.118 billion, up 1% from $5.066 billion in December but down $2 million, or a tiny fraction of a percent, compared with January 2012.
Across Canada, a similar story is playing out.
Retail sales across the country totalled $38.931 billion, according to the nation’s number cruncher. That’s up about 1% from the $38.553 billion in December but down $43 million, or down 0.001% from the same month a year ago.
B.C. had the flattest retail sales numbers among the provinces.
The provinces with the biggest year-over-year gains were Saskatchewan (6.7%), Alberta (2.9%) and Prince Edward Island (2.8%).
The provinces with the weakest year-over-year sales were Quebec (-4.9%), Nova Scotia (-4.1%) and Ontario (-1.9%).
