Manufacturing sales grew 1.9 per cent in February: StatsCan

Manufacturing sales in Canada grew 1.9 per cent to $55.8 billion in February, boosted by the transportation equipment industry, new figures from Statistics Canada show.

The increase in factory sales, an indicator of strength in the economy, came after two consecutive monthly decreases.

The federal agency says sales were up in 14 of 21 industries, representing 72.2 per cent of the manufacturing sector.

Transportation equipment industry sales increased 6.6 per cent to $10.7 billion in February, following assembly plant shutdowns in January. The increase came as motor vehicle sales gained 8.9 per cent and motor vehicle parts sales climbed 4.8 per cent.

Sales in the primary metal manufacturing industry rose 4.8 per cent to $4.3 billion.

Partially offsetting the gains, the petroleum and coal products industry saw sales fall 2.1 per cent to $5.8 billion, due in part to a decrease in the price of refined products

Sales rose in six provinces in February, StatsCan said, with Ontario and Quebec being the main contributors to this growth.

After falling 2.1% in January, sales in Ontario rose 3.0% to $25.9 billion in February, StatsCan said. “This growth was mainly on account of the motor vehicle (+9.0%) and motor vehicle parts (+4.9%) industries,” it said. “These increases were partially offset by lower sales of chemical products (-3.0%), machinery (-2.9%) and petroleum and coal products (-2.7%).”

In Quebec, sales rose 2.2% to $13.5 billion in February, following two consecutive monthly decreases. “Increases were noted in 14 of 21 industries, mainly due to a 6.0% gain in sales in the primary metal manufacturing industry and a 2.5% increase in the transportation equipment manufacturing industry,” StatsCan said.

British Columbia posted the largest monthly decrease (-1.3%) and its fourth consecutive monthly decline. “The decline in February was mostly due to lower sales in the electrical equipment, appliance and component industry,” StatsCan said.