Factory revenues in Alberta bounced back in March after a sharp decline in February.

According to new Statistics Canada data, the value of seasonally-adjusted manufacturing shipments in Alberta grew by $345 million (+3.9%) in March and erased about one-third of the drop experienced in February.

Despite sliding prices, revenues of refined petroleum products—our largest manufacturing sub-sector—rose 20.6% and were responsible for most of the aggregate monthly increase.

Helped along by a record-setting January, Alberta’s first quarter factory sales stood $1.7 billion (+6.9%) higher than the first quarter of 2022 with refined petroleum products and food manufacturing revenues driving over 80% of this gain.

It was a similar story nationally where first quarter revenues were up by 6.5% compared to last year, mostly driven by higher volumes.

There seems to be a fair amount of resilience in manufacturing activity so far this year, but we expect momentum to temper as external economic conditions cool following a period of high inflation and interest rate hikes.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Albertans under 15 years of age represented about 18% of the total provincial population in 2022 compared to about 31% in 1971.

Today’s trivia question: Albertans aged 65 and over represented about 7% of the provincial population in 1971. What was the percentage in 2022?