There are some who believe if you want to get a feel for the direction a local consumer economy is headed, track the volume of business being done in ladies wear stores. Apparently this is a very sensitive indicator – when things are looking up, so are sales in these stores. There may be some merit in that old saw but it also might be a little skewed in a COVID world where many of us are wearing pajamas to work because we’re operating from home.
But, if you subscribe to the theory, then things slowed down last month. The monthly inflation or consumer price figures show that sales in stores selling both ladies wear and men’s clothing were down about five percent in December. They put the most downward pressure on the inflation rate nationally.
Here in Saskatchewan we saw inflation go up nine-tenths of a percentage point last month. That was the highest in the country and it comes on the heels of one of the higher performances in November too.
One of the factors at play here is home costs as significant numbers are trading up which ends up costing them more.
Source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2021005-eng.pdf?st=6Ybm4-ak
