Canadian manufacturing sales edged 0.3 per cent lower in March, the third decline in the past four months. Sales declined in just under half of manufacturing sub-sectors with declines driven by falling output in the petroleum, coal and chemical industries. In spite of this morning's weak manufacturing report, a slate of better than expected economic data has pushed our quarterly Canadian GDP growth tracking estimate to 2.2 per cent for the first quarter of 2013.
In BC, manufacturing sales rose 1.2 on a monthly basis and were 2.6 per cent higher than March 2012. Provincial manufacturing sales have also risen 2.6 per cent through the first quarter of 2013. BC has been able to buck the national trend of declining manufacturing sales this year due to the sharp turnaround in the wood products sector. The sale of manufactured wood products rose an astounding 34 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter as a result of the strong recovery in US housing starts.
Copyright BCREA - Reprinted with permission
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