Manufacturing sales unchanged in September at $70.4 billion, as per Statistics Canada report

Manufacturing sales were unchanged in September at $70.4 billion, said Statistics Canada.

The federal agency said gains in sales of durable goods including aerospace product and parts, primary metal and machinery were offset by a drop in non-durable goods including petroleum and coal products and food.

The country saw an 11.1 percent gain in the month for aerospace product and parts to $1.7 billion, which helped sales of durable goods rise 1.0 percent to $34.1 billion.

Sales of primary metals also increased 2.9 percent to $5.6 billion in September, while the machinery sector added 3.6 percent at $4.3 billion.

Meanwhile, sales of non-durable goods fell 0.9 percent to $36.3 billion in September, as sales of petroleum and coal products fell 2.4 percent to $9.5 billion and food industry sales dropped 1.8 percent to $11.9 billion.

Sales in constant dollars edged down 0.2 percent in September.

“Manufacturing sales volumes edged down in September and, with the business surveys continuing to weaken and inventory levels now looking unusually high, they are likely to fall further,” said Stephen Brown, senior Canada economist at Capital Economics.

“We expect weaker manufacturing production to contribute to a moderate recession in the first half of 2023.”

In a separate report, Statistics Canada said Tuesday that wholesale sales rose 0.1 percent to $81.8 billion, as sales rose in five of seven subsectors.

Wholesale sales of personal and household goods rose 4.3 percent to $11.2 billion, the largest monthly increase since June 2020, boosted by pharmaceuticals and pharmacy supplies wholesalers which gained 5.7 percent to $6.2 billion.

Meanwhile, the food, beverage and tobacco subsector climbed 1.9 percent to $14.9 billion as the food industry gained 2.3 percent at $13.3 billion.

The miscellaneous subsector fell 5.8 percent to $12.3 billion in September, the largest drop since April 2020.

Overall wholesale sales fell 0.2 percent in constant dollars in September.