Saskatchewan’s manufacturing sector enjoyed a bounce-back month in April.
This sector had been a strong one for us through most of this decade, generally outpacing the rest of the country. But this year was highlighted by a bit of a slowdown as high interest rates dampened downstream demand. Even so, this is a $2 billion a month industry for the province, so, it plays a large role in our overall economic health.
However, April delivered a different story. Sales compared to March were up 7.5 per cent. That was the second-best improvement in the country, behind only PEI whose manufacturing sector is about one-tenth the size of ours where even small changes can deliver big percentage movement.
Compared to a year earlier, Saskatchewan’s total manufacturing revenue rose more than five per cent as the national aggregate was still contracting, sitting one per cent lower than in the previous year.
Factories in Saskatoon saw the biggest gains, up six per cent for the month. Regina also saw larger sales volumes and continued its trend of sales roughly twice those generated by Saskatoon firms.
