According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales rose for the third consecutive month in January, up 0.6 percent to $53.8 billion.
Sales in current dollars increased in the fabricated metal product industry (+2.4 percent), reflecting higher volumes. Overall sales in the transportation equipment industry declined 2.9 percent to $10.9 billion, although sales in the motor vehicle industry increased 3.9 percent to $6.0 billion in January. This gain was not sufficient to offset decreases in the other transportation equipment (-44.7 percent) and aerospace product and parts (-11.8 percent) industries.
Inventory levels rose 1.1 percent to $70.5 billion in January. Inventories were up in 17 of 21 industries, led by the petroleum and coal product (+5.2 percent), machinery (+2.5 percent), primary metal (+1.9 percent) and food (+1.6 percent) industries. The inventory-to-sales ratio increased from 1.30 in December to 1.31 in January.
Unfilled orders increased 0.3 percent to $87.7 billion in January, following two months of declines. Most of the gain came from a 5.1 percent increase in the machinery industry. Unfilled orders in the machinery industry reached $7.3 billion in January, their highest level since March 2015. Unfilled orders also rose in the electrical equipment, appliance and component and fabricated metal industries.
New orders rose 4.6 percent to $54.1 billion in January, following two consecutive monthly declines. The gain mostly reflected an increase in new orders in the aerospace products and parts and motor vehicle industries.