Alberta consumer spending increase lags behind national rise

Spending by Alberta consumers rose 1.3 per cent last year, well below the national 4.1 per cent increase, figures released Tuesday by the Moneris Solutions payment services company show.
The amount spent in the province during the final three months of 2017 was up two per cent from the same period one year earlier, boosted primarily by outlays for hotels (up 7.7 per cent) and alcohol (up 2.5 per cent).
“Stability and consistency defined 2017 when it came to spending in Canada,”