For the first time since May 2023, sales* at Alberta restaurants and bars did not grow in January. Sales in Canada fell by 1.9%.

Sales in Alberta were still 4.5% higher than the previous January compared to just 1.0% nationally.

The price of food purchased at restaurants in Alberta increased by 4.6% and by 5.1% nationally over the same period.

Sales at full-service restaurants in Alberta in January were unchanged from a year earlier while drinking places posted a small increase of 0.5%.

The year-over-year growth was stronger for limited-service eating places (e.g. fast food restaurants) at 4.6% and special food services (e.g. concessions at arenas, caterers, and food trucks) at 14.1%.

One month does not constitute a trend, but the lagged impact of higher borrowing costs on top of past price increases are expected to force many households to cut back on things like eating at restaurants and going out for drinks.

With that said, any downward pressure exerted by inflation and interest rates will be at least partially offset in Alberta by relatively strong population and employment growth this year (see our latest forecast for more on the outlook for the Alberta economy).

*Month-over-month sales have been seasonally adjusted. January sales figures are preliminary and are subject to revision.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The original version of The Price is Right began airing in 1956.

Today’s trivia question: When was the restaurant added to the upper section of the Calgary Tower?