Food services and drinking places, May 2014
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Released: 2014-07-31
Sales for the food services and drinking places industry rose 1.1% to $4.8 billion in May, the fifth consecutive increase. Prices for food purchased from restaurants rose 2.1% in the 12 months to May, matching the increase in April.
Chart 1
Food services and drinking places sales increase in May
For the fifth consecutive month, all sectors reported higher sales. Full-service restaurants accounted for almost two-thirds of the gain, rising 1.6%, the largest increase since March 2013. Sales in the limited-service restaurant sector, which led April's increase, were up 0.8%. Sales in the drinking places sector rose 0.7%. Following a 2.8% gain in April, sales in the special food services sector, which includes food service contractors, caterers and mobile food services, increased 0.4% in May.
Sales were up in eight provinces in May, representing 83% of industry sales. Ontario and Quebec accounted for the vast majority of the national gain.
Higher sales in the full-service restaurants sector led gains in Ontario and Quebec. Ontario sales rose 2.2%, the largest increase since March 2013. Sales in Quebec were up 0.8% in May.
Sales in British Columbia rose 0.4%, mostly driven by growth in the full-service restaurant sector.
On the strength of higher sales in the limited-service restaurant sector, Nova Scotia's sales rose 2.1%.
Sales growth in New Brunswick (+0.9%) and Prince Edward Island (+1.1%) decelerated in May after large increases in both provinces in April.
Sales in Alberta edged down 0.2% in May, following a 3.3% increase the previous month.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported lower sales (-0.7%) for the fourth consecutive month, after posting the highest annual growth rate among all provinces in 2013.
Note to readers
All data in this release are seasonally adjusted and expressed in current dollars. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
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