According to Statistics Canada, manufacturing sales fell 1.5 percent to $71.0 billion in December, the second consecutive monthly decrease. Sales decreased in 14 of 21 industries in December, led by the petroleum and coal product (-6.4 percent), wood product (-7.5 percent), food (-1.5 percent) and plastics and rubber (-4.0 percent) industries.
On a quarterly basis, sales increased 1.1 percent to $215.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, following a 2.1 percent decrease in the third quarter. The transportation equipment (+3.5 percent), petroleum and coal product (+2.7 percent), chemical (+3.6 percent) and food (+1.6 percent) industries contributed the most to the increase, while the wood product industry (-7.3 percent) posted the largest decrease.
Total inventory levels edged up 0.1 percent to $121.3 billion in December, mainly on higher inventories in the chemical (+4.0 percent) and electrical equipment, appliance and component (+8.4 percent) industries. The gains were partly offset by lower inventories in the wood product (-4.2 percent) and petroleum and coal product (-2.4 percent) industries.
The inventory-to-sales ratio increased from 1.68 in November to 1.71 in December. This ratio measures the time, in months, that would be required to exhaust inventories if sales were to remain at their current level.
The total value of unfilled orders decreased 1.2 percent to $108.3 billion in December, the third consecutive monthly decline. Lower unfilled orders in the transportation equipment (-2.3 percent), plastics and rubber product (-6.6 percent) and fabricated metal product (-1.6 percent) industries contributed the most to the decline.
The capacity utilization rate (not seasonally adjusted) for the total manufacturing sector decreased from 79.0 percent in November to 75.9 percent in December.
The capacity utilization rate fell in 19 of 21 industries in December, notably in the food (-2.5 percentage points), wood product (-11.3 percentage points), and non-metallic mineral product (-11.9 percentage points) industries. These declines were partially offset by an increase in the petroleum and coal product industry (+2.2 percentage points).