Manufacturing sales edged up 0.3% in October, StatCan says

Manufacturing sales grew 0.3% to $54.1 billion in October, a new report from Statistics Canada said, led by the paper, petroleum, and coal industries – and with 2.2% growth for plastic and rubber product manufacturers.

The agency says the rise followed a revised increase of 2.2% for September compared with an earlier reading of 1.5%.

Manufacturing sales in constant dollars were unchanged, StatCan said, indicating that the increase in October was driven entirely by higher prices.

Motor vehicle sales rose 1.9% to $4.6 billion in October, following a 2.8% decline in September. “Despite the increase, sales were 3.8% below the pre-pandemic level in February and were down 11.7% year over year,” StatCan said. “In October, motor vehicle inventories were at their lowest level since January 2018 and contributed to the slow recovery in motor vehicle sales.”

Sales also rose at primary metal (+2.0%) and other transportation equipment (+24.4%) in October.

Meanwhile, production in the aerospace product and parts industry were down 5.9% to $1.6 billion in October, following a 15.3% increase in September.

Following two consecutive gains, sales of chemical products fell 2.5% to $4.3 billion in October. According to StatCan, the decline was mostly attributable to lower sales of resin, synthetic rubber, and artificial and synthetic fibres, and pharmaceuticals and medicine.

Manufacturing sales rose in seven provinces in October, led by New Brunswick and British Columbia; Quebec posted the largest decline, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador. Manufacturing sales on an unadjusted basis were up in 5 of the 12 selected census metropolitan areas in October, led by Regina. Montréal and Toronto posted the largest declines, StatCan said.