Manufacturing sales off 0.2 per cent in January: StatsCan

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales edged down 0.2 per cent in January to $48 billion, the fourth decline in five months.

It says sales fell in the transportation equipment industry as well as the petroleum and coal product industry.

Overall, seven of 21 industries posted lower sales in January, representing approximately 52 per cent of the manufacturing sector.

Sales of durable goods sales declined 0.7 per cent to $24.1 billion, while non-durable goods sales rose 0.3 per cent to $23.9 billion.

Manufacturing sales fell in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.

In Quebec, sales declined 2.7 per cent to $11.3 billion, the largest decline since July 2012, while Ontario sales were down 0.8 per cent to $21.6 billion.