Statistics Canada says sales by Canadian wholesalers rose 0.4% in April to $71.5 billion, the third increase in the past four months. Activity in the sector was mixed in April, with continued strong growth in the sale of building materials and supplies largely offset by lower sales in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories subsector and the miscellaneous subsector.

Wholesale sales rose in seven provinces. In Saskatchewan, sales fell 1.9 per cent from March.

Compared to April of last year, sales across the country were up a whopping 46 per cent. In Saskatchewan, the increase was more modest 9.5 per cent. In fact, we were the only province not to make it into the double digits. The next lowest increase was Manitoba at 19.4 per cent.

The total value of wholesale merchant’s sales in Saskatchewan in April was $2.57 billion.