May data from RBC highlighted that Canadian manufacturers experienced another modest upturn in overall business conditions in May, which marked three months of sustained improvement.
At 52.1 in May, the seasonally adjusted RBC Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was above the neutral 50 mark and only fractionally lower than the 16-month high of 52.2 recorded in April. As a result, the headline index indicated another moderate improvement in business conditions across the manufacturing sector, mainly supported by greater levels of output, new business and employment in May.
Moreover, the average PMI reading so far this quarter indicates the strongest growth momentum since the last quarter of 2014.
Canada's largest bank reported that output growth expanded at its fastest pace for almost one year, but the latest survey pointed to slightly weaker rates of new business and employment growth.
