Numbers released today by Statistics Canada show that seasonally adjusted retail sales in Alberta went from $7.31 billion in July to 7.33 billion August for an increase of 0.4%. This was an improvement over the 1.5% decrease that occurred in July.

The bump in retail sales was stronger nationally at 2.1%. Month-over-month sales were higher in every province and territory in August except Nunavut.

Retail sales in Alberta were 12.8% higher than in August 2020 and 7.9% above where they were in August 2019.

Supply chain disruptions helped push new vehicle sales down in August with sales off by 7.4% compared to the pre-pandemic level in August 2019.

Gas station sales were, conversely, up by 10.3% compared to two years earlier on the back of higher gas prices.

While it’s good news that retail sales are well above where they were last year, it is important to note that this does not replace the billions in revenue that did not come in during earlier stages of the pandemic.

Answer to the previous trivia question: According to Statistics Canada, shrinkflation occurs “when a product size or volume shrinks, but the price stays the same or even rises.”

Today’s trivia question: The Toronto Blue Jays are the only Canadian MLB team to win the World Series (and they did it twice). What years did they win?