B.C. sales figures rank dead last among provinces

Retail sales in B.C. placed dead last among the provinces in January in an underwhelming performance one economist suggests may be a blip.

B.C. was the only province in Canada to see a sales decline in January as month-over-month sales shrank by 0.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said yesterday.

Nationally, retail sales rose by 1.5 per cent, buoyed by Canadians' hunger for cars, clothes, building supplies and furniture.

Business Council of B.C. economist Jock Finlayson said B.C.'s sales figures are a bit puzzling given the province's strength in other economic areas such as the labour market.

"We have had quite strong retail sales until this report, so I wouldn't jump to a conclusion based on one month," Finlayson said.

"It could very well be a blip rather than a sign of any fundamental slowdown of retail sales."

REM: This may be a blip however I have one associate who works for a large furnitue distributor and he claims shipments to individual stores are down when compared to the same period over the last few years.