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Retail Services Price Index
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The Retail Services Price Index (RSPI) advanced 0.4% in the first quarter.
Margin increases were posted in 7 of the 10 retail sectors, with the largest first quarter margin increases recorded by furniture and home furnishings stores (+1.6%), gasoline stations (+1.4%) and health and personal care stores (+1.3%).
First quarter increases were moderated by declines in the retail margins of electronics and appliance stores (-7.9%), building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (-0.6%) and miscellaneous store retailers (-0.2%).
Year over year, the RSPI rose 1.9% in the first quarter compared with the same quarter of 2010. Food and beverage stores (+4.6%), clothing and clothing accessories stores (+2.7%) and gasoline stations (+2.5%) posted the largest year-over-year margin increases. Declines in retail margins were recorded by electronics and appliance stores (-10.5%), building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (-1.2%), sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores (-0.1%) and miscellaneous store retailers (-0.1%).
Note: All data in this release are seasonally unadjusted and are subject to revision. With the release of the final fourth quarter data for any given year, finalized data for all quarters of that year are released at the same time. The Retail Services Price Index (RSPI) is part of the Services Producer Price Index program at Statistics Canada. The RSPI is not a retail selling price index. The Index represents the change in the price of the retail service. The price of the retail service is defined as the margin price which is the difference between the average purchase price and the average selling price of the retail product being priced. With this release, finalized data for 2010 are available on CANSIM.
Available on CANSIM: table 332-0003.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5135.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-888-951-4550 or 613-951-4550; fax: 1-855-314-8765 or 613-951-3117; ppd-info-dpp@statcan.gc.ca), Producer Prices Division.
Table 1
| Relative importance1 | First quarter 2010r | Fourth quarter 2010r | First quarter 2011p | Fourth quarter 2010 to first quarter 2011 | First quarter 2010 to first quarter 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | (2008=100) | % change | ||||
| Retail Services Price Index | 100.00 | 105.2 | 106.8 | 107.2 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| Motor vehicle and parts dealers | 1.53 | .2 | .2 | .2 | .2 | .2 |
| Furniture and home furnishings stores | 3.33 | 103.2 | 103.2 | 104.9 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Electronics and appliance stores | 3.42 | 96.1 | 93.4 | 86.0 | -7.9 | -10.5 |
| Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers | 5.97 | 112.5 | 111.8 | 111.1 | -0.6 | -1.2 |
| Food and beverage stores | 21.81 | 105.7 | 110.4 | 110.6 | 0.2 | 4.6 |
| Health and personal care stores | 6.68 | 110.2 | 111.0 | 112.4 | 1.3 | 2.0 |
| Gasoline stations | 11.52 | 100.3 | 101.4 | 102.8 | 1.4 | 2.5 |
| Clothing and clothing accessories stores | 5.24 | 98.4 | 100.0 | 101.1 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
| Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores | 2.48 | 103.5 | 103.0 | 103.4 | 0.4 | -0.1 |
| General merchandise stores | 11.47 | 108.5 | 108.7 | 109.8 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| Miscellaneous store retailers | 2.56 | 108.7 | 108.8 | 108.6 | -0.2 | -0.1 |
