British Columbians love to buy stuff.
According to the MonerisMetrics Quarterly Report, consumer spending went up 7.08 per cent in B.C., the second highest in the country following P.E.I. (+7.82 per cent) and Ontario (+6.60 per cent).
Overall, consumer spending in Canada grew by 4.77 per cent in the third quarter.
The third quarter of 2015 saw an increase of 6.68 per cent relative to the third quarter of 2014.
“We are closing in on eight consecutive quarters of growth across nearly all major consumer categories,” said Angela Brown, president and CEO of Moneris.
“Over the last few quarters, we have seen a trend toward a larger share of credit card versus debit card payments, which could be driven by a combination of factors, including the shift to online shopping, popularity of contactless payments, and Canadians’ preference for loyalty and rewards programs. As we enter the busy holiday shopping season, we will continue to keep an eye on how Canadians are choosing to pay amid all of the options available to them.”
Relative to 2015, consumer spending rose by 2.65 per cent in July, 5.93 per cent in August and 4.97 per cent in September.
Interestingly, the biggest increase was seen in fast food restaurants (+12.2 per cent); sports apparel (+7.83 per cent) – which coincided with the Blue Jay’s winning streak – and furniture and home furnishing stores (+8.15 per cent).
The findings are consistent with other economic indicators, including a report by Statistics Canada showing positive GDP growth in July.
With the exception of Alberta, all provinces showed positive spending increases in the third quarter of 2016. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter of spending decreases in Alberta, with a drop of 2.66 per cent year over year.
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