Things were better for Canada's manufacturing sector in June, according to figures released Tuesday morning by Statistics Canada.
The agency reported that manufacturing sales rose 0.8% to $50.2 billion in June, following a 1.0% decline in May.
StatsCan went on to say higher sales of machinery and transportation equipment products were largely responsible for the gain. Nearly three-quarters of the increase in June was linked to these two industries.
Overall, sales were up in 15 of 21 industries, representing 62% of the manufacturing sector. Durable goods rose 1.6% to $27 billion, while non-durable goods decreased 0.1% to $23.2 billion. Constant dollar sales increased 0.5%, indicating a higher volume of goods sold.
Sales in the machinery industry rose 5.8% to $2.7 billion, following five consecutive monthly declines. The gain in June was the largest since last September and stemmed from higher sales in the commercial and service machinery, agricultural, construction and mining machinery, and industrial machinery industries. Some types of machinery in these industries take many months to manufacture. As such, the advance in June partly reflected the delivery of orders placed several months ago.
The agency concluded that, in the transportation equipment industry, sales were up 1.4% to $10.7 billion in June, following a 2.5% decline in May. The increase in June was mainly due to higher sales in the motor vehicle parts and motor vehicle assembly industries. The gains in both industries primarily reflected higher volumes, following lower production levels in May.
