Consumers in Saskatchewan are either the most prudent in the country or prices are falling in the wake of higher interest rates. It’s hard to say just what is behind this trend.
The latest retail or consumer spending figures came out Friday. They look at May’s activity and we’re seeing some added expenditure in the automotive industry as dealers get more products and parts demand rises. Used vehicle sales, for example, rose 10 per cent in May. Food spending also went up as grocery prices continued to rise – more than nine per cent for the year, according to the latest CPI figures.
But here in Saskatchewan, consumer spending was down. Whether that is the result of lower prices, so we didn’t have to spend as much on a range of products, or we have decided to cut back on our discretionary spending is hard to discern.
Whichever one, it was noticeable as we had the largest decline in Canada – dropping almost 2.5 per cent while most provinces were posting gains. For us, it was the fifth consecutive decline this year.
