Canadian manufacturing sales grow for the third month in a row

July 18th, 2017  |  Canadian Business

Manufacturing sales in Canada grew to $54.6 billion in May, a 1.1% growth from the previous month. This is higher than the 0.8% growth that economists were predicting and marks the third straight month of growth.

"May marked a good month for Canadian manufacturing," said TD Bank economist Michael Dolega. "The solid volume print in May suggests healthy activity during the second quarter."

According to Statistics Canada, high sales in the transportation equipment and chemical manufacturing industries attributed greatly to the rise in manufacturing numbers. Transportation equipment and chemical manufacturing industries grew by 4.2% and 2.4% respectively in the month of May.

Six provinces saw manufacturing increases and Ontario lead the pack with the highest sales, coming in at $26.3 billion. This made for a 2.6% growth in May, the highest on Ontario’s record.

After three months of growth however, Dolega is wary that these strong numbers may start to dwindle.

"The recent spike in the loonie's value on account of tighter monetary policy by the Bank of Canada will likely pose some downside to growth," he said. "And the sectorial outlook may be further complicated by the upcoming NAFTA renegotiations, with the U.S. Trade Representative publishing rather stringent objectives this week. Discussions will likely begin in mid-August and are likely to last for some time given significant sticking points."