Manufacturing sales up 2.6 per cent in February, biggest gain since July 2011

Manufacturing sales rose 2.6 per cent to $49.6 billion in February, the largest increase since July 2011, according to Statistics Canada.

The agency says the gain was due largely to higher sales in the transportation equipment, petroleum and coal product, food, and miscellaneous manufacturing industries.

According to StatsCan, the gain was broad-based, as sales rose in 14 of 21 industries, representing approximately 85 per cent of the manufacturing sector.

Constant dollar manufacturing sales increased 2.5 per cent, indicating that most of the gain reflected higher sales volumes.

Sales of durable goods were up 3.7 per cent to $25.1 billion, while non-durable goods sales rose 1.5 per cent to $24.5 billion.

Sales rose in eight provinces in February, led by Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick.