Figures released Thursday by Statistics Canada showed Canadian manufacturing sales unexpectedly fell by 0.8% in October from September on widespread weakness, indicating fourth-quarter growth could be sluggish
Analysts forecast sales to increase by 0.4% from September. But the decline was the sharpest since the 0.9% retreat in March of this year.
Sales fell in 15 of the 21 industries, representing 61% of the manufacturing sector. The volume of goods sold, a measure which strips out the effect of price changes and is closely watched by economists, plunged by 1.7%.
