RBC's Canadian consumer spending tracker is a good measure of real-time spending based on credit card data. Usually it's released around the 10th of the month and I've been checking it daily, wondering why the long wait.
It's finally out and shows that August retail sales ex-autos, likely declined on a month-over-month basis both before and after adjusting for inflation. The tracker fell 0.1% and was flat excluding autos. That comes after declines of 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, in July.
Some highlights:
- Services sector spending declined, alongside spending on goods and essentials
- Home and renovation-related spending remained weak, alongside general merchandise, gasoline and health and personal care spending
- Travel spending slowed with average spend per transaction falling in a sharp drop
- Spending on hotels was largely flat as restaurant spending ticked lower
Within the report, travel looks particularly weak.
