After contracting by 0.8 per cent in August, seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales in Alberta increased by 3.9 per cent in September.

The rally was led by chemicals (up 12.3 per cent on a monthly basis or $112.5 million) and wood products (up 13.9 per cent or $55.0 million).

Only 4 of 16 of the major sub-sectors lost ground in September.

Alberta led the country in September followed by Ontario and New Brunswick with sales up by 1.5 per cent in the country as a whole.

There is, however, still a lot of catching up to do with year-over-year sales in the province down by 11.6 per cent ($713.7 million) and year-to-date sales down by 16.7 per cent ($9.7 billion).

How the second wave of the virus will affect manufacturing is not known, but we can assume some downward pressure until the economic disruption dissipates.