I'm trying to get the SKU to display in the Category layout without having to manually put said SKU in the Short Description box

I tried using the same code from the product details layout but it will not display the SKU, it will show the SKU title text, but not the SKU number

Here is the code I am attempting to use:
<?php //Product SKU
if (!(($this->product->product_sku)==0)) { ?>
<span class="product-fields-title" >
<?php echo JText::_('COM_VIRTUEMART_PRODUCT_SKU') ?>
</span>
<?php echo $this->product->product_sku ?>
</br>
<?php } ?>
I can comment out the JTEXT code and it disappears, so I am led to believe the code is working partially

Addendum: I am placing this code in the same loop in between the 'Short Description' and the 'Price' calls

What am I doing wrong
