OTTAWA — Manufacturing sales rose 2.1 per cent to $59.2 billion in June, driven by production at auto assembly plants and higher sales of petroleum and coal products, Statistics Canada said Monday.
The overall increase came as manufacturing sales increased for 13 of the 21 industries tracked.
Statistics Canada said motor vehicle sales rose 25.6 per cent in the month as most auto assembly plants in Canada were able to partially increase production in June, despite the semiconductor chip supply shortage that continued to affect the industry.
Sales in the petroleum and coal industry rose 5.2 per cent as both prices and the volume of sales climbed higher.
TD Bank economist Omar Abdelrahman said Canada's manufacturing sales showed some signs of life in June after an unusually weak May report.
"However, while output in the auto industry has partially recovered, production levels remain low as a result of the global shortage in semiconductor chips," Abdelrahman wrote in a report.
"Recent reports from auto manufacturers suggest that we aren't out of the woods yet, with some citing that shortages may continue to cloud the outlook into next year."
In constant dollars, manufacturing sales rose 2.2 per cent to $49.1 billion in June, indicating a higher volume of goods sold.
The data came as Statistics Canada also reported wholesale sales fell 0.8 per cent in June to $71.5 billion as sales for the building material and supplies subsector as well as machinery, equipment and supplies subsector fell.
Wholesale sales of building materials and supplies fell 5.4 per cent in June due to a drop in the sales of lumber and other building supplies, while machinery, equipment and supply sales dropped 3.5 per cent.
Wholesale volumes fell 1.4 per cent in June.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2021.
The Canadian Press
