In Canada, manufacturing sales edged down 0.3 percent to C$ 49.5 billion in March, the third decline in four months, according to a report Wednesday from Statistics Canada. Overall, sales declined in 10 of 21 industries.
Manufacturing inventories decreased 0.1 percent in March. A 1.6 percent drop in goods-in-process was largely responsible for the decline. This was mostly offset by increases of 0.3 percent in finished products and 0.7 percent in stocks of raw materials.
Unfilled orders decreased 1.1 percent to C$ 71.1 billion in March, following four consecutive months of gains. The drop in unfilled orders reflects lower unfilled orders in the aerospace product and parts and fabricated metal product industries.