U.S. slow down takes toll on Canadian manufacturing

Canadian factory shipments declined 0.9% in December to a nine-month low of $43-billion, according to a monthly manufacturing survey published by Statistics Canada. A sluggish U.S. economy that has weakened demand for auto parts and vehicles accounts for the sluggish performance of the manufacturing sector.
Automotive shipments dropped over 11% in December, the largest monthly decline since the summer of 1998, when a strike at General Motors in the U.S. caused production interruptions. Economists expect that soft global demand and uncertainty over the situation in the Middle East will continue to be a drag on growth and manufacturing in the U.S. over the next few months.
On the bright side, the Stats Can survey found that chemical shipments rose 4.1%. Furniture shipments increased 7.6%, bolstered by a surging housing market.