Manufacturing sales up 1.5% in August as wholesale sales dip

Statistics Canada says total manufacturing sales rose 1.5 per cent to $79.9-billion in August, helped by strength in the primary metal and chemical subsectors.

Sales in the primary metal subsector gained 14.0 per cent to hit a record $7.6-billion in August, helped by higher sales volumes and prices, while the chemical subsector increased 4.4 per cent to $6.2-billion.

Transportation equipment sales fell 2.6 per cent to $12.0-billion.

In constant dollars, total manufacturing sales were unchanged in August.

U.S. retail sales beat expectations on higher gasoline prices

In a separate report, Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons as well as oilseed and grain, fell 1.6 per cent to $91.6-billion in August.

In volume terms, wholesale sales, excluding the same categories, fell 1.8 per cent.

Statistics Canada has started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade but is excluding the data from its monthly analysis until there is enough historical data for comparison.