Manufacturing sales rose 1.5 per cent to $50.4 billion in January: StatsCan

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 1.5 per cent to $50.4 billion in January, the largest gain since February 2013.

The agency says the increase mostly reflected higher sales in the primary metal, food and miscellaneous industries.

It says sales were up in 12 of 21 industries, representing about 46 per cent of the manufacturing sector sales in January.

Constant dollar sales increased 0.7 per cent, indicating that just under half of the overall gain reflected higher volumes of goods sold.

Sales of durable goods were up 2.0 per cent while sales of non-durable goods rose 1.0 per cent.

The report says sales were up in four provinces in January, led by Quebec, where they increased 4.4 per cent to $12.1 billion.