Wholesale merchants’ sales rose 2.5 per cent in Saskatchewan, February to March. Ontario matched that. Every other province was in negative territory. The national average rang in at an increase of 1.1 per cent. It was the first increase for Saskatchewan in five months, on the strength of higher sales in three subsectors. The gain was led by higher sales in the miscellaneous subsector. The agricultural supplies industry contributed the most to the gains there. Year-to-year, Saskatchewan was off 3.3 per cent. The only other province coming in negative was Newfoundland and Labrador which saw sales off by 24 per cent. Nationally, there was an average rise of 4.9 per cent. Sales in Saskatchewan in March totalled about $2.1 billion.