Wholesale merchants’ sales rang in at $2.3 billion in Saskatchewan in July. That was a drop of 0.5 per cent from the month before. Four other provinces were also in negative territory and they all saw bigger drops than ours. The national average was a rise of 1.7 per cent. Compared to the same month from the year before, Saskatchewan saw a rise of 1.3 per cent. That was the smallest increase of the provinces. Albert and BC both recorded drops. The national average was a rise of 3.4 per cent.