Manufacturing sales fall 1.8 per cent in June in Canada

OTTAWA — Canadian manufacturing sales fell in June following three consecutive months of gains, with declines led by the petroleum and coal industry. Manufacturing sales slipped 1.8 per cent overall to $53.9 billion in June, Statistics Canada said Thursday. Sales also fell 1.0 per cent in constant dollars, indicating a lower volume of manufactured goods was sold in June.

“After several strong months, the Canadian manufacturing sector hit a speedbump in June with sizable declines in both value and volume terms,” TD Bank senior economist Michael Dolega wrote in a report. The June report did not alter TD’S view for the second quarter but suggested a “marked deceleration of growth” for the third quarter is in the cards, Dolega added.

The weaker-than-expected manufacturing report follows a series of strong economic data to start the year and the Bank of Canada’s decision last month to raised its key interest rate target for the first time since 2010. Manufacturing sales fell in 15 of 21 industries, representing 72.1 per cent of the manufacturing sector in Canada in June.

The petroleum and coal product industry fell 7.1 per cent to $4.6 billion in June, following a 3.0 per cent drop in May due to lower prices and lower volumes.

The transportation equipment industry slipped 2.3 per cent to $11.3 billion in June, while the chemical industry dropped 4.5 per cent to $4.3 billion. Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales fell in eight provinces in June, led by Ontario and Quebec. Ontario saw a drop of 1.7 per cent to $25.9 billion, the largest decrease in the province since May 2016, while Quebec fell 3.3 per cent to $12.3 billion.

Sales in Manitoba rose 6.0 per cent to $1.6 billion and British Columbia gained 0.9 per cent to $4.2 billion.