Alberta retail sales fall to lowest level since June 2013
Province has seen three consecutive months of declining sales activity, Statistics Canada says
Retail sales in Alberta have declined for three straight months, reaching their lowest level since June 2013, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
Seasonally adjusted sales were down 0.8 per cent in July to $6.059 billion.
Retail sales peaked in the province back in October 2014, at $6.657 billion.
Alberta retail sales by month (click or tap graph for more detail):
Alberta was one of six provinces to see retail sales fall in July.
Declines were the biggest in New Brunswick at 6.9% and Newfoundland and Labrador at 6.2%. That coincided with an increase in the harmonized sales tax in both provinces in July, Statistics Canada noted.
Retail sales were down across the Prairie provinces largely due to declines among car dealers and gas stations.
"We are seeing a pullback in what economists call discretionary spending," said Todd Hirsch, chief economist at ATB Financial.
"So the things that are nice to have but you don't really need them in a tough economic time."
In Saskatchewan, retail sales fell 3.3 per cent overall, while in Manitoba they were down 0.9 per cent.
Ontario saw a 0.8 per cent increase in July, driven largely by new car sales.
Retail sales were also up by 0.9 per cent in British Columbia and 0.2 per cent in Quebec.
Nationwide, sales were down 0.1 per cent to $44.1 billion.
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