Revenue at Alberta’s restaurants and bars rose again but things are starting to slow down.

The seasonally-adjusted revenue of Alberta’s food services and drinking places ticked up by $7.3 million (+0.8%) in August. This was the smallest monthly increase in seven months.

Over the first eight months of 2022, revenue was up by $1.6 billion (+29.3%) relative to the same period last year.

Driven almost entirely by Alberta and BC, month-over-month sales in Canada inched up by $3.9 million (+0.1%) in August.

Year-to-date revenue was, however, buoyed more by gains in the central provinces. Ontario and Quebec were responsible for almost two-thirds of the $13.0 billion (+32.1%) increase in Canada-wide sales through August.

We expect revenue to temper further under the weight of ongoing challenges such as higher borrowing costs, elevated inflation and supply chain disruptions.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The height of a stack of one billion US dollar bills would be 109.3 kilometres.

Today’s trivia question: Out of which vegetable were Jack O’ Lanterns originally made?