After reaching a record high in May, seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales in Alberta fell for the third consecutive month in August.

Monthly sales went from $7.20 billion in July to $7.18 billion in August for a decline of 0.3%.

Compared to May, sales were down by 2.5% ($187.7 million)

The decrease was mainly due to lower lumber prices. Higher prices for refined petroleum products helped offset this but was not enough to keep overall sales from falling.  

Despite the drop, factory sales in August were 40.2% higher than in August 2020 and 13.1% higher than in August 2019.

Nationally, month-over-month sales were up in five of the ten provinces for a national increase of 0.5% ($315 million). Year-over-year sales were 14.9% higher than in August 2020 and 4.3% higher than in 2019.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The “stag” in stagflation stands for stagnation. “Flation” stands for inflation with stagflation referring to a period of stagnant economic growth and high inflation.

Today’s trivia question: The Industrial Revolution involved a shift away from handmade products to products made by machines. In what century did the Industrial Revolution begin?