Manufacturing sales rose 1.7 per cent in November: StatsCan

Manufacturing sales increased 1.7 per cent in November to $49.9 billion, the highest level since May 2012, according to Statistics Canada.

The bad news? The plastics industry didn’t share in the uptick.

In a new report, StatsCan said the largest gains were in the transportation equipment, and the primary metal and chemical industries. In November, there were strong gains from primary metals (5.9 per cent), transportation equipment (3.8 per cent), motor vehicles (4.1 per cent), auto parts (2.1 per cent), aerospace (6.5 per cent), and chemicals (3.9 per cent), StatsCan said.

Petroleum and coal products were only modestly up, 0.7 per cent from October, however, while plastics declined 1.7 per cent and wood products fell 1.4 per cent.

Regionally, Ontario’s manufacturing sales rose 3.8 per cent, while New Brunswick saw a large 11.7 per cent surge. However, Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia all saw a contraction in sales.