Retail Sales Signals, Consumer Price Index

The BCREA recently released this economics info of interest to owners and real estate investors:

Inflation/ Retail Sales – November 23, 2010

Retail Sales in Canada rose for the fourth consecutive month, increasing 0.6 per cent in September. BC posted the same increase as Canada. However, it was the first notable increase since May. Strong retail sales signals increased consumer confidence and is supportive of housing demand.

The Consumer Price Index climbed 2.4 per cent in October compared to the same month last year. This was the largest increase since October 2008. The main contributors were gasoline (+8.8%), electricity (+8.1%), natural gas (+10.6%) and passenger vehicles (+4.9%). Despite the jump in headline inflation. the Bank of Canada’s (BoC) core index, which excludes volatile components like food and energy, climbed 1.8 per cent and is below the BoC’s inflation target of 2.0 per cent.

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