Seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales in Alberta rose for the fourth month in a row in January.

At $7.8 billion, shipments from provincial factories were 1.3% higher than in December and 28.1% higher than 12 months earlier.

Wood product manufacturing saw the biggest month-over-month increase at 11.6% followed by non-metallic mineral products at 8.4% and fabricated metal products at 6.1%.

Sub-sectors that had lower sales in January include plastics (-20.0%), miscellaneous manufacturing (-9.4%) and electrical equipment (-7.7%).

Alberta’s largest manufacturing sub-sector—petroleum and coal products—lost some ground in January with sales down by 0.4%.

Nationally, sales increased by 0.6% compared to December with sales higher in five provinces. Compared to January 2021, national sales were up by 13.4%.

While sales are up, supply chain disruptions and inflation are also pushing up input costs and, in turn, putting downward pressure on manufacturing margins.

Answer to the previous trivia question: An ounce of gold can be stretched over 50 miles.

Today’s trivia question: When did the Canadian TV show about manufacturing How It’s Made debut?