Originally posted 21 July 2016
Consumer spending is an integral part of the economy. Usually retail sales constitute about 50-70 per cent of an economy. Alberta, with its high level of capital investment, generally would rely less on consumer spending. That said, Albertans are still the highest per capita consumers in Canada, with an appetite for big trucks and dining out. At least up until the current recession.
As would be expected consumer spending has softened over the past couple of years.
