Consumers tightened the purse strings a bit as we went into summer this year.
StatsCan has just released the retail sales or consumer spending numbers for July and it shows a nation-wide decline of nearly a full percentage point.
And it was all about buying fewer items as gross revenue and volume went down in lockstep. In other words, prices were pretty much static when averaged out across the board but we did not buy as many items or as much stuff.
Saskatchewan’s figures were better than most in the country. Retailers generated $2.2 billion in July, almost exactly the same as they took in in June for a no change month. Nationally, sales declined in five provinces.
Compared to a year ago, consumers spending in Saskatchewan was down about half a point, one of the larger reductions but it is not clear if that is a result of lower inflation and price reductions or people sitting on their wallets.
The biggest pullbacks in July were seen in clothing stores followed by building material and garden equipment suppliers.
