Manufacturing sales in Saskatchewan rose 1.3 per cent from July to August. That was in sharp contrast to the national average of a decline of two per cent. Compared to August a year ago, Statistics Canada says we were down nearly 18 per cent. Nationally the average was a decline of nearly 9 per cent. The total value of sales in August was about $1.2 billion.

For the Saskatoon census metropolitan area, sales were down 4.5 per cent month to month and down 1.8 per cent year to year. Total value of sales in August was $288 million.