According to Statistics Canada, real gross domestic product (GDP) edged up 0.1 percent in April as 12 of 20 industrial sectors increased. After a decline in January, GDP has risen every month since the beginning of 2018.
The output of goods-producing industries rose 0.2 percent, as gains in the manufacturing and utilities sectors more than offset declines in construction and in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction.
Manufacturing was up 0.8 percent in April as the output of both durable and non-durable manufacturing grew. This reflects in part higher inventory buildup, as the real inventory-to-sales ratio was the highest since 2009.
Durable manufacturing expanded 1.0 percent as the majority of subsectors were up. The largest increase in terms of output was a 2.8 percent gain in machinery manufacturing, with increases in most of its industries. Non-metallic mineral products (+4.8 percent) and primary metal products (+2.7 percent) manufacturing grew as exports of metal and non-metallic mineral products increased in April. Transportation equipment was down 1.3 percent from a decline in other transportation equipment such as all-terrain vehicles.
Construction was down 0.5 percent in April, the largest decline since the strike-influenced decrease in May 2017. Residential building construction was down 1.0 percent from decreased activity in the construction of most types of structures. Repair construction (-0.7 percent) and engineering and other construction (-0.2 percent) also declined. Non-residential construction was up for a sixth consecutive month, increasing 0.3 percent, its slowest monthly growth during that period.
Following two consecutive monthly increases, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction decreased 0.3 percent in April.
Mining excluding oil and gas extraction was down 9.1 percent in April, as a labor disruption in iron ore mining (-46.6 percent) significantly impacted production. Non-metallic mineral mining was down 6.6 percent, as a result of a notable slowdown in potash production (-18.2 percent).