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Generation Y-ers may be having a tough time finding jobs but that that isn’t stopping them from buying Lanvin bags and Burberry Prorsum trenchcoats.

Those born after 1983 are driving sales in Canada’s luxury sector, according to data on spending habits released Tuesday from American Express Canada.

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The data, collected between 2009 and 2011, found the Generation Y group has been the key force for luxury market growth in this country, boosting fashion spending by 33% between 2009 and 2011, travel spending by 74%, and fine dining spending by 102%.

Online luxury fashion spending among Generation Y-ers leapt 53% year-over-year in 2011 from 15% year-over-year 2009, AmEx said. That compared with luxury spending among Generation X-ers (up 32% year-over-year in 2011 from 1% in 2009; Boomers, up 45% year-over-year in 2011 compared with 3% in 2009, and seniors, up 30% year-over-year in 2011 compared with 4% in 2009).