Manufacturing sales drop 1.3% in December

Manufacturing sales fell 1.3% to $56.4 billion in December as sales of petroleum and coal products fell, Statistics Canada reported today.

The agency says the drop for the final month of 2018 was the third consecutive month to see a decline.

Economists had expected an increase of 0.2%, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The drop means GDP forecasts for the fourth quarter will now track below 1%, said Royce Mendes, senior economist at CIBC Capital Markets, in emailed commentary. “Soft GDP prints to close out last year and begin this one will keep the Bank of Canada on the sidelines for at least the next few months,” he said.

Statistics Canada says sales were down in 12 of 21 industries tracked, representing 72.7% of manufacturing sales.

Sales in the petroleum and coal product industry fell 10.4% to $5.2 billion, with a decrease in volume accounting for about half the decline.

In volume terms, overall manufacturing sales were down 1.2% in December.

Staff, with files from The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is a national news agency headquartered in Toronto and founded in 1917.