Manufacturing Sales in March Decline 2.1% to $69.9B, Reports Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada reported on May 15 that manufacturing sales dropped by 2.1 percent to $69.9 billion in March, with declines in sales of petroleum and coal products and motor vehicles contributing to the decrease.

Capital Economics’ Olivia Cross, North America economist, noted that while the decline was less severe than the initial estimate of 2.8 percent, it still indicated a 0.9 percent drop in sales over the first quarter.

Ms. Cross expressed concerns about the slowdown in manufacturing sales for March, suggesting that it could signal a loss of economic momentum going into the second quarter, aligning with earlier estimates for retail sales and GDP.

In March, preliminary estimates for real gross domestic product and retail sales from Statistics Canada showed no significant changes for the month.

The decline in manufacturing sales for March was primarily driven by an 8.0 percent decrease in sales of petroleum and coal products to $8.0 billion, with volumes falling by 6.1 percent.

Sales of motor vehicles also dropped by 7.9 percent to $4.6 billion in March, with sales of motor vehicle parts experiencing a 2.8 percent decline.

Related Stories

Statistics Canada attributed the decline in auto manufacturing sales in March to retoolings at major auto assembly plants in Ontario.

On a positive note, sales of machinery increased by 2.9 percent to $4.5 billion in March, driven by growth in all seven machinery industry groups, particularly in commercial and service industry machinery, which saw a 41.6 percent gain.

Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars decreased by 2.0 percent in March.

Inventories remained relatively unchanged at $121.0 billion, while unfilled orders dropped by 0.8 percent to $104.8 billion for the month.