According to new Statistics Canada data, restaurant and bar activity in Alberta posted the largest monthly decline in the country.

Seasonally-adjusted revenues at Alberta’s food services and drinking places contracted by $31.8 million (-3.4%) in November 2022—the sharpest decline since December 2021.

While activity eased across six other provinces, Alberta’s monthly drop was the deepest and responsible for about half the decrease experienced at a national level.

Despite the sharp decline, revenues were upbeat relative to 2021 levels. Over the first eleven months of 2022, year-to-date receipts from Alberta’s food services and drinking places were $2.0 billion (+25.9%) above the same period the year before.

We expect restaurant and bar revenues to continue to temper in the coming months as the economy grapples with the aftermath of successive interest rate hikes, sticky inflation, labour shortages and supply chain disruptions.

Answer to the previous trivia question: At US$100 million, Tom Cruise was the highest paid actor in 2022.

Today’s trivia question: How long is the world’s longest permanent continuous bar?