Paul Martin Commentary
Retail or consumer spending is remaining quite resilient in this country despite all the stories of global unrest that bombard us on a daily basis.
We have the first test of consumer sentiment for March coming from RBC Royal Bank which tracks its client card use. It shows that activity continued to rise in March and it was more than inflationary increases as they also noted an increase in the volume of purchases.
Not surprisingly spending on gasoline went up last month as price hikes triggered by the Middle East war kicked in. But even after taking that out, spending still rose in March although the growth was slower than February.
Consumer spending in Saskatchewan rose 3.1-percent from February to March. Only PEI showed a higher number. The bank also tracks these spending patterns on a three-month average – on that one, Saskatchewan was again second just behind PEI in terms of growth.
They also noted that spending on things like the arts and entertainment is growing faster than other categories as we favor experiences over stuff.
