According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales increased for the third consecutive month, up 1.1 percent to $54.6 billion in May. The gain was mainly attributable to higher sales in the transportation equipment and chemical manufacturing industries. Sales were up in 16 of 21 industries, representing 71 percent of the manufacturing sector. Sales of durable goods rose 2.2 percent, while sales of non-durable goods declined 0.3 percent.
Sales in the transportation equipment industry rose 4.2 percent to $11.5 billion in May, the third gain in four months. The growth was the result of increases in the motor vehicle (+8.6 percent) and the motor vehicle parts (+5.7 percent) industries, mainly reflecting higher volumes. After removing the effect of price changes, sales in volume terms rose 8.1 percent and 5.0 percent respectively in these industries in May.
Manufacturing inventory levels edged down 0.2 percent to $73.7 billion in May, following five months of gains. Inventories fell in 8 of the 21 industries, with the aerospace products and parts (-2.6 percent) and the chemical (-2.0 percent) industries recording the largest declines. These decreases were partially offset by a 1.8 percent increase in primary metal inventories. The inventory-to-sales ratio declined from 1.37 in April to 1.35 in May.
Unfilled orders fell 1.5 percent to $89.1 billion in May, following three months of gains. Most of the decrease was attributable to a drop in unfilled orders in the aerospace products and parts industry.
These declines were partially offset by an increase in unfilled orders in the fabricated metal product and machinery industries.
New orders declined 3.6 percent to $53.3 billion in May, following five months of gains. The decrease mostly reflected lower new orders in the aerospace product and parts industry. These declines were partially offset by higher new orders in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts industries.