Retail Trade, January 2015, published March 20
Retail sales in January were $41.4 billion, down 1.7% from December but an increase of 1.2% from January 2014. Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers and by gasoline stations, retail sales were up by 3.6% from January 2014. Retail sales in volume terms were down 1.2% from December. Decreases in month-over-month sales were reported in 7 of 11 sectors representing 83% of retail trade. January 2015 sales over January 2014 were up in six provinces. British Columbia led the way with a 4.6% sales gain, followed by Ontario (+3.6%) and Prince Edward Island (+2.2%). The largest...
Read MoreWholesale Trade, January 2015, published March 18
Wholesalers sold $53.7 billion worth of goods and services in January, down 3.1% from December but 7.1% higher than in January 2014. This was the largest month-over-month decline since January 2009. Excluding the automotive sector, wholesale sales were up 6.6% from January 2014. In terms of volume, wholesale sales were down 3.3% in January from December. Annualized wholesale sales grew in all provinces. Saskatchewan (+15.0%) led the way, followed by Ontario (+8.4%) and Manitoba (+8.3%). Quebec’s wholesale sales were up 4.0% from January 2014. Wholesalers’ inventories in...
Read MoreBuilding Permits, January 2015, published March 6
Municipalities issued $6.1 billion worth of building permits in January, down 12.9% from December and 13.6% lower than in January 2014. Prince Edward Island was the only province to report an increase in permits over a year ago (+7.8%). The largest year-over-year losses were recorded in Newfoundland and Labrador (-57.7%) followed by Nova Scotia (-31.7%) and Saskatchewan (-29.2%). Ontario recorded a 6.2% annualized decline, while Quebec’s loss was 0.4%. Builders took out residential building permits worth $4.1 billion in January, down 7.0% from December and 12.2% lower than in...
Read MoreLabour Force Survey, February 2015, published March 13
Employment in February was unchanged from January. The unemployment rate was 6.8%, up from 6.6% in January. Construction employment was up 1.1% from January while manufacturing employment fell by 1.2% from a month earlier. In February, employment stood at 17.9 million, up 0.7% from February 2014. Full-time employment grew by 34,000 from January, while part-time employment decreased by 34,900 from the previous month. Full-time employment was up by 121,100 from February 2014, while part-time grew by 8,900 over the same period. Employment over the past year grew in six provinces. Manitoba...
Read MoreConsumer Price Index, January, 2015, published February 26, (2002=100)
The Consumer Price Index rose by 1.0% in January compared with January 2014, down from the 1.5% rate of annualized increase in December. The CPI in January for goods was down 0.2% from a year earlier while the CPI for services rose 2.1%. Gasoline prices decreased 26.9% from January 2014, after falling 16.6% in December. Overall, energy prices fell 12.9% between January 2014 and January 2015, following a 6.4% annualized rate of increase in December. Excluding energy, the annualized Consumer Price Index rose 2.3% in January, up from 2.2% in December. Food prices rose 4.6% (the largest...
Read MoreRetail Trade, December 2014, published February 20
Retail sales in December were $42.1 billion, down 2.0% from November but an increase of 4.0% from December 2013. This was the largest monthly decline since April 2010. Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers and by gasoline stations, retail sales were up by 4.7% from December 2013. Retail sales in volume terms were down 1.3% from November. Decreases in month-over-month sales were reported in 9 of 11 sectors representing 71% of retail trade. December 2014 sales over December 2013 were up in all provinces. British Columbia led the way with a 6.0% sales gain, followed by...
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